KARACHI, July 20: Contrary to cement makers claim that the prices have come down from Rs320-330 to Rs260-275 per 50 kg bag all over the country especially in Punjab, cement dealers in Karachi say that the cement prices are still flying high.

A leading manufacturer and exporter of cement, who asked not to be named, said that in Karachi, the wholesale prices range between Rs240 to Rs265 as compared to over Rs300 per bag, while in Lahore the price of Bestway is Rs279 and Pioneer cement costs Rs282. In Peshawar the prices hover between Rs268-270 of different brands while in Multan the wholesale prices of cement range between Rs272 to Rs275 per bag.

“The notable feature is that the price of cement has come down from the high level of over Rs300 all over Pakistan,” the manufacturer claimed.

However, dealers in Karachi refute the manufacturers’ claim that the prices have decreased.

The president, Karachi Cement Dealers Action Committee, Shaukat Hussain denied any change in the price of cement during the last two to three months. He said that cement price had never crossed Rs300 in Karachi where demand had remained mediocre. He claimed that the price of cement had gone up to Rs245 (on an average) from Rs225 four months back.

“How can a price come down when manufacturers have not reduced the rate,” he said adding that actually whenever cement makers want they move the price both ways.

A member of All Karachi Cement Dealers Welfare Association, on condition of anonymity, said, in Karachi, the prices of cement had neither come down nor had it ever crossed Rs300.

Pakland and Falcon cement are still selling at Rs270 and Rs280 a bag respectively and it is the highest rate. He said there is no shortage of cement in Karachi.

On the other hand, a cement maker linked the price hike in cement to shortage created by stockists and shopkeepers. He said that the high price of cement was a temporary market phenomena caused by the high demand in cement due to heavy construction activities in the government sponsored projects. Heavy purchase by builders and other private buyers also caused price hike after the budget.

Earlier, they had stopped purchasing cement with a hope of excise duty cut in budget but it did not happen.

He maintained that the price had not been increased despite frequent rise in furnace oil prices for the last two months which resulted in escalation of power generation cost for those cement mills that generated their own power. Fuel price now costs Rs20,899 per ton as compared to Rs19,033 on June 1, 2005.

He urged the government to skip the idea of imposing some sort of regulatory duty on export as it will result in losing potential markets like Afghanistan and the Middle East.