The Ministry of Trade and Industry has decided to issue a decree setting the profit margin of concrete agents and traders to control concrete prices that unjustifiably increased over the last period. Mohammed Abu Shady, head of the Internal Trade Sector, said the Supply Investigation and the ministry's control bodies can not control concrete traders now, as is the case in rebar market, because there is no law or ministerial decree giving them that right. However, the new decree will give the Supply Investigation the right to control prices.
The traders exploited the current strike by truck drivers to raise prices in an unprecedented way. The prices hovered between LE450 per ton from concrete plants and LE610 in some areas, Abu Shady added. For his part, an official at the Ministry of Trade and Industry said Egypt does not import concrete because world prices are some $95 per ton, much higher than domestic prices. Suspending exports or putting restrictions on it will not contribute to decreasing prices, especially as most of the production is pumped in the local market. Imports will increase only after a decline in global prices, the official added. For his part, the head of the Commercial Sector at French Lafarge Co Medhat Istefanos said export is still the last option for companies to market their concrete, especially as the local market absorbs the majority of the production. In addition, there are no global prices for concrete, as they vary from one region to other.
