April 20, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1427

KARACHI, April 19: Chairman Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) Hafiz ur Rahman Butt has said that his members are in contact with cement manufacturers in Iran and India to import a sizeable quantity of cement.

In a statement, he said that the association was assessing the demand of its member builders for the imported cement. Many builders have started approaching cement exporters in foreign countries.

He said the local cement makers manipulated the price to bring it to a phenomenal level despite no increase in their input costs.

He added that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) or any other government agency could import cement directly so that any attempt to take undue advantage of the situation by the vested interests could be dealt accordingly.