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| Business |
| Importers blamed for shortage of cement |
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by
Ephraim Munthali, 22 October 2003
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17:31:12
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Commerce Minister Sam Mpasu has blamed importers for the shortage of cement on the market, saying they have failed to bring in the product even when they were granted import permits.
Mpasu said on Wednesday that government licenced Portland cement company to import from Zambia 10,000 tonnes out of the a shortage of 20,000 tonnes while the rest was issued to other traders—all of whom, he said, failed to import in time.
“We knew that there would be a shortage of cement in the country after Portland warned us. In response, I issued several import licences but these people failed to bring in cement because Zambia too had a shortage,” he said.
Mpasu said the importers should have gone back to his ministry to find another alternative after noticing that they could not import from the western neighbour.
“When we got in touch with Portland, they told us that it was only last week when they had sent the [packaging material] to Zambia last week,” said Mpasu.
He brushed aside speculations that the shortage is due to the cement import ban and assured the market that government would do “everything possible” to normalise the situation.
Retailers have been accusing Portland of failing to meet the growing demand of cement due to low output, but the company says production is in tune with demand.
“There is no shortage. The railway [to the Central Region] is still broken and as such we have to load cement to Lilongwe on trucks. If the railway is repaired that would make a huge difference,” said Portland general manager Tony Rix.
The railway line linking Blantyre to Lilongwe was cut off last year when heavy floods washed away bridges along the rail, forcing retailers to come all the way from Mzuzu and Lilongwe to queue for cement in Blantyre for several days.
Portland currently holds about 85 percent share of the whole Malawi market while Shayona, the rival producer, controls about 10 percent.
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