Cement Prices in Sarawak Have Not Risen
Monday, 28 February 2011, Kuching – Contrary to a Sarawak media report appearing last Sunday stating that the price of cement had increased, Sarawak’s sole cement manufacturer, CMS Cement, today clarified that no such increase had occurred since 2009. In fact, since February 2009 when the Recommended Retail Price (RRP) of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) had been reduced by RM5 per metric tonne (mt), the price of its OPC had not changed.
Commenting on the incorrect news article on 27 February which alluded to the price of low cost housing in Sarawak may rise due to the increase in raw materials, CMS Cement’s Executive Director, Haji Othman Abdul Rani, said, “The price of cement in Sarawak has been maintained since two years ago when CMS Cement announced a RM5 reduction in price per metric tonne effective February 2009, despite increases in our own cost of production.”
“As a responsible corporation, CMS Cement is fully aware that the local market depends on us to ensure a continuous supply of quality cement for its infrastructure needs. This is especially important now as Sarawak embarks on SCORE and the 10th Malaysia Plan. We think very hard about the wide impacts on the construction sector that any change we make to our price will have. For CMS Cement, the challenge is to focus on improved efficiency in our supply chain. Our preference is not to pass on the increased costs to the customer unless it is unavoidable”, added Haji Othman.
The Government removed the ceiling price on the RRP of cement to the market in 2008. In November of that year, CMS Cement announced that it was reducing its price per tonne to dealers by RM5. Just four months later, in February 2009, CMS Cement once again reduced its price to dealers by a further RM5 per mt in line with a lowering of its overall production costs.
CMS Cement operates grinding plants in Kuching and Bintulu and maintains storage facilities in Sibu and Miri. The company produces both OPC and Cemplast masonry cement. For further enquiries, members of the public can contact CMS Cement’s Marketing Department at (T) 082 334 478 or 332 111 or (E) cement@cmsb.com.my which receives, logs and individually investigates feedback as part of its responsibility to users.
