The recent rise in cement costs has alarmed Sammy Amegayibor, the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Real Estate Development Association (GREDA).He added that since cement is a crucial component of building and construction, any considerable shift in its price has a big effect on their business.
Speaking on JoyNews’ News Night on Thursday, May 16, Mr. Amegayibor said that their operations and product offers are impacted by the unexpected increase in cement costs.He clarified that, in contrast to grocery items, where cost aspects can be immediately factored in, their company entails building houses, the cost of which cannot be estimated.
That’s not how things work in our instance. When you first begin a project, the cost of cement is 60 cedis. When you reach the block work stage, the cost increases to 70 cedis. By the time you finish plastering, the cost exceeds 100 cedis. “How do you even calculate the building’s cost?” he inquired.
Despite earlier rises in the cost of building supplies, he stated that the current spike in cement costs is the “worst” he has seen recently and that it is highly harmful to their business operations.
In response to the directive issued by Trade and Industry Minister K. T. Hammond to address the price increase, Mr. Amegayibor stated that when a ministry in charge of a certain industry releases instructions of this kind, it signifies that they are aware of an issue.
“And so expressing of concern – it’s fair and it sounds refreshing. However, issuing a directive of this nature, one will have to ask that what are the fundamental causes of the cement price increment than to just issue a directive.
“We will be very happy if the price of cement is reduced today or tomorrow, but we must be very fair because we are all in the manufacturing business. One wonders why the Minister hasn’t addressed or mentioned the fundamental issues that caused the cement prices to go up, instead of just issuing directives for it to come down,” he continued.
The Cement Manufacturing Development Committee (CMDC) has been instructed by K. T. Hammond, Minister of Trade and Industry, to give Ghanaian cement manufacturing companies instructions to immediately reverse the recent increase in cement pricing.
Recalling his instruction to the CMDC at its founding on March 8, 2024, the Minister additionally asked that all cement makers in the nation publish their retail cement pricing in order to put an end to the ongoing, capricious hikes in cement prices.He went on to restate his demand that the CMDC collaborate with cement producers to guarantee consistent cement prices across the country by implementing a single cement pricing system analogous to the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF) that Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority has established for fuel retail.
A bag of Super Cool cement increased from GHS82 (US$5.95) to GHS88 while Super Rapid now sells at GHS95, up from GHS87.
