By Ayanna Kirton, Gleaner Writer
A section of the Carib Cement Company in Rockfort, Kingston. - File
CARIB CEMENT Company's Marketing Manager, Alice Hyde, said yesterday that Carib Cement has the capacity to fulfil the market demand but due to the importation dumped cement by companies like Mainland International, the company has had to cut back its production levels. She also said that if there were no dumped imports, the company would have been more than able to satisfy the demand for cement.
FAILED EFFORTS
"There is legislation in Parliament to deter the importation of dumped cement, and we have tried to prevent Mainland from importing from places like Thailand and Indonesia," said Ms. Hyde. However, this has only led the company to source a new supplier, she observed.
She made it clear that Mainland International imports dumped cement from China at a lower rate than what the product would attract in the domestic market, which allows the company to sell cement at a marginally lower cost to consumers. She also spoke of the introduction of safeguard legislation, which will be "able to limit the unfair importation of cement from other countries which causes serious injury to the local cement industry".
FIRM FOUNDATION
In the cement business for 50 years, Carib Cement is generally regarded as the island's leading cement-manufacturing company. Its cement is produced locally "with a little less than 60 per cent of foreign inputs, including fuel, spare parts, and power," explained Ms. Hyde.
With sales of over 620,000 tonnes in 2002, the company now charges $294 per 94-lb bag for ex-factory cement, which it sells to hardware stores, wholesalers, block makers and retailers, who in turn, supply the end user or consumer, added Ms. Hyde. "We definitely have the majority of the market share, and we have no problem with competition... as long as it is fair."
