ISLAMABAD, March 10: The federal government has convened a meeting of the cement industry here on Thursday to combat a rising trend in the prices of cement, sources in the industries ministry told Dawn.

To be presided over by Industries Minister Liaqat Ali Jatoi, the meeting would also be attended by chairmen of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) and State Cement Corporation.

The cement prices have increased by an average Rs10 per bag in the recent few days but cement manufacturers' cartel that had given an assurance to contain it below Rs220-225 per bag in August last year, refuse to acknowledge the current price hike.

This is despite the fact that capacity utilization of cement industry has increased from 60 per cent last year to 74 per cent and exports have also increased by more than 10-fold when compared with last year.

Officials at the ministry of industries said they were at a loss as to why the cement prices have gone up because there was no apparent reason for such an increase, except that some profiteers might be playing with the market due to rising demand.

Meanwhile, a delegation of APCMA led by its chairman Tariq Saigol called on Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday and denied any increase in price hike.

An official statement said it was a pre-budget meeting. Tariq Saigol informed the finance minister about the tremendous increase in the demand for cement in the country, which, according to him is the result of higher development spending, particularly in the area of infrastructure, low interest rate environment, and a sharp pick up in housing and construction sector.

APP adds: Monopoly Control Authority (MCA) has decided to conduct preliminary investigation into reported hike in the prices of cement by the cement manufacturers.

According to official source, that government has taken notice of the reported surge in the price of cement through cartels by the cement manufactures.