Consumers in Egypt have suffered a whopping 30 percent hike in cement prices over the last two weeks as producers offset a rise in energy prices, according to an industry insider. The price of cement per tonne is currently sold between LE750 ($107.7) and LE800 ($115) compared with LE550 ($79) and LE600 ($86.2) a month earlier, Ahmed El-Zeiny, the head of the building materials division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, told Ahram Online. “The foreign cement producers that dominate the domestic market have increased their prices to exceed the global cost that stands at an average of $65 per tonne,” he added. According to El-Zeiny, the Egyptian military's cement factory in North Sinai's Al-Arish is selling cement at LE550 per tonne, but frequent attacks on the gas pipeline in the area are interrupting production. Suez, El-Sewedy and Lafarge are the main cement producers in Egypt. They handle around 48.3 million tonne of cement per year out of a total nationwide output of around 55 million tonnes. “The cement factories informed the government that they had printed new prices on their packs but the government did not take any action,” complained El-Zeiny. On the other hand, an official source at Lafarge, the French cement giant, said the company had not increased its prices and they were still at an average of LE600 per tonne. “If the market witnesses price hikes, it is probably down to the retailers,” an anonymous source told Ahram Online. The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) recently opened an investigation into several complaints and reports about cement price hikes. Cement and brick makers were the first industries hit by energy subsidy reforms in 2013, part of a gradual government programme to remove energy subsidies to industry. Currently, they get natural gas or low-quality fuel (mazot) for $6 per million BTUs instead of the previous price of $4. Egypt's energy subsidies cost LE120 billion ($17.2 billion) in the fiscal year 2012/13 and the government plans to lower it by LE20 billion ($2.8 billion) in the current fiscal year that will end in June. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/96112.aspx
