Retailers substantially raise cement price
Retailers substantially raise cement price
JAKARTA (JP): Many city retailers have raised the price of cement beyond the recent government-decreed 40 percent price increase.
As of yesterday, five days after the official price rise, the retail price of cement was between Rp 8,500 and Rp 9,500 (US$3.80 and $4.30) per 40-kilogram sack, well above the new government- set reference price of Rp 8,290.
Some retailers said that, although their stocks were exhausted, they would not buy more cement for the time being because, they said, the current situation was unpredictable.
"The price can go up or down at any time in such a situation, even though the government has set the local reference price," said a representative of the retailer Buana Indah in Karawaci, Tangerang, 35 kilometers west of the Jakarta.
"It seems to us that everyone wants to wait until the current situation -- in which many parties are trying to speculate -- returns to normal," he said.
Therefore, he said, he was allowing his cement stocks to remain at zero yesterday.
"Moreover, the number of buyers is still low," he said.
The price of cement in Karawaci reached Rp 9,500 per sack yesterday.
Last Friday, the ministry of trade increased the reference prices of cement by between 20.39 percent and 45.50 percent.
The reference price in Jakarta, as in other areas in Java, was raised to Rp 8,290 per sack, as compared with the previous reference price of Rp 5,930.
Several days before the government's announcement, the price of cement had already reached Rp 8,000 per sack.
Another retailer said that he could supply a huge amount of cement -- at a price of Rp 9,500 per sack.
"I've been informed that some retailers in the city have further increased the price due to their limited stocks," he said.
"But I can assure you that I have enough stocks available at my reliable distributors," he added.
The cement price rise has already led to an increase in the price of many related construction goods.
Speculation on the possibility of a rise in the cement price normally lasts until producers and distributors are able to satisfactorily distribute the commodity to meet market demands, retailers told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
Speculators continued to play a significant role in deciding the price of cement, they said.
According to the Jakarta-based Indonesian Foundation of Consumers, the retail price of cement is always 15 to 20 percent above the government-set reference price.
"Given that fact, it's clear enough that the government can no longer set the price and that the local reference price has no power in the market," said Zumrotin K. Susilo, who chairs the foundation.
Consumers are bored with the government's arguments in favor of price-fixing, according to Zumrotin.
Therefore, she urged the government to let the market set the cement price and to remove the import duty on cement.
At the same time, Zumrotin called on the city authorities to launch a massive operation to check the prices being asked by city retailers and to punish violators harshly. (bsr)