Cement prices to go up over clinker shortage?

Concerns have been raised, especially within the building industry, about whether cement prices will increase due to the current shortage of the product on the market, caused by the scarcity of clinker.

According to Emmanuel Cherry, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry, the availability of clinker - a key component in cement production - is a major determinant of cement pricing.

He stated that cement prices would decrease if clinker were available in large quantities for manufacturers.

However, due to the unavailability of the product, regulating cement prices in the country would be challenging, as manufacturers face significant hurdles in clearing this essential raw material.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb Business on the potential hike in cement prices, Cherry remarked; "It's about the availability of the material. If you have the material in large quantities, automatically it will force the price down. But here, in this case, you don't have the material at all. So if the government says, 'I'm going to regulate prices,' in what way? In what capacity? It can be difficult because the material is not even there for them to produce."

He added that; "And then they struggle to go to the extreme to bring it, and you say, 'I'm going to regulate the prices.' Then what you're trying to tell them is you want them to close up completely from the market, which is also going to be decided as we speak.

"All those issues are tied to clinker. If the product arrives and they struggle to clear it, what do you expect them to do? The price is high, so the end product will also be high."

In his view, the government needs to implement measures to facilitate local production of raw materials to avoid challenges, including future shortages.

SA/AE

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