Clashes erupted once again yesterday before stores of building materials due to scarce steel and its high prices. Cement shortage continued for the third day in a row after prices increased to LE600 a ton. Such clashes are attributed to high prices of steel, which reached LE5000 a ton, said Mohamed Sabri, the owner of a building materials store in Kafr el-Sheikh governorate. The price of cement produced by "Alexandria Cement" reached LE500 a ton against LE525 for "Misr Cement". There is a shortage in cement in the markets, Mr. Sabri added. In Qena governorate, lines appeared once again after the prices of steel increased to LE4200. Steel disappeared from the markets ten days ago. Local resident Ikrami Ali called for tightened control over traders, confirming that there is depression in constructions due to the crisis. In Dakahlia governorate, local resident Khairy Al-Sayyed accused stores of Al-Makhzangi, Mahrous and Slu in Semblaween of closing their doors and refusing to sell cement under the pretext that cement prices increased to LE600 a ton while the government said the price was LE490 a ton. A large number of traders stopped selling cement after wholesale traders increased prices to LE570 a ton under the pretext of low quantities, retail trader Ahmed Al-Atribi said. For his part, the head of the Chamber of Commerce's Cement Division in Dakahlia Mohamed Montaser said the crisis is due to the fact that plants reduced their production from 10,000 tons to 3,000 tons in accordance with a secret agreement to increase prices again. The division called on the government to intervene in order to stop the excesses of cement producers and fix a suitable price for the sale of this product, he said, calling for more taxes on cement plants because they profit billion of pounds.
