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)