Cement prices still above government's set levels
Cement prices still above government's set levels
JAKARTA (JP): Cement retail prices in several cities are still
above the government's set retail prices.
As of yesterday, retail prices in Jakarta ranged from Rp 8,300
(US$3.75) to Rp 8,700 per 40 kilogram sack, while the
government's set retail price for the Greater Jakarta is Rp
7,460.
In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara province, cement prices were
quoted at between Rp 9,750 and Rp 10,000 per 40 kilogram sack,
well above the government's set retail price of Rp 8,880 for the
city.
I Ketut Subaba, an official at the province's trade office,
said that this year's quota of cement for the area is 240,000
tons, of which 57,500 have been delivered.
As of April 10, the province's trade office recorded 19,000
tons of cement in stock.
Meanwhile in Ambon, Maluku, cement prices reached Rp 10,000
per 40 kilogram sack yesterday, above the set price of Rp 9,120
for the city.
In Samarinda, East Kalimantan, cement prices reached Rp 10,250
per 40 kilogram sack, well above the set price of Rp 8,775 for
the city.
Maryadi, an official at East Kalimantan's trade office, said
the high cement retail prices were caused by the failure of the
state-owned PT Semen Tonasa in Ujung Pandang to abide by the
government's latest ruling on cement retail prices.
"Semen Tonasa still sells its cement according to the old
ruling," Maryadi said, referring to the Ministry of Trade's
ruling which raised the local reference prices of cement by 40
percent to an average of Rp 9,600 per 40 kilogram sack.
Last Monday, however, the Ministry of Trade surprisingly
announced another new ruling which set the retail prices at 10
percentage points below the reference prices which were announced
in late March.
Minister of Industry Tunky Ariwibowo guaranteed on Wednesday
that cement prices would go down to the level of the government's
set retail prices within one or two weeks, as stocks were
adequate and the demand was rather sluggish.
Maryadi said his office could do nothing to control the
increasing cement prices.
"Anyhow, we have summoned all distributors and cement traders
in this area and told them to abide by the government's set
retail prices," Maryadi was quoted by Antara as saying.
He said local distributors still held 24,000 tons of cement.
The stock is expected to reach 30,000 tons this month because
several ships are scheduled to bring in new supplies from Ujung
Pandang. (rid)