Government will reduce duties on extra-regional cement imports to ensure cement remains affordable after Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) announced an eight-15 per cent hike in cement prices on Monday.
Cabinet agreed to a revision of the quota and import licensing regime for cement for 2022 when it became aware, in November, of the impending cement price increases, the Trade and Industry Ministry said in a release.
As a result, the maximum quota for cement imports will be 150,000 tonnes (an increase from 75,000 tonnes in 2021), with each existing registered importer receiving a 50 per cent increase in the allocation in 2022.
TT also received approval from Caricom's Council for Trade and Economic Development to suspend the common external tariff and reduce the duty to 20 per cent from 50 per cent on cement (building cement-grey and hydraulic) for the one-year period January 1-December 31, 2022, during a special meeting on December 10, the ministry said.
These measures, the ministry said, will ensure the continued viability of the local cement manufacturing industry (which is a net foreign-exchange earner, currently provides employment to over 315 people directly and engages approximately 450 small contractors for services).
"The Government is of the firm view that the availability of affordable cement forms a critical linkage between the manufacturing and construction sectors, and therefore is vital for the country’s sustainable development as well as the welfare of consumers."
The policy changes were implemented to offset the impact of TCL's price increases, which take effect from December 20, the monopoly supplier announced in a letter to "industry partners."
TCL said the price of Premium Plus cement will increase by 15 per cent and Eco-cement by eight per cent.
In the letter, TCL manager Reshma Gooljar-Singh said the company – majority-owned by Mexico's Cemex group – can no longer maintain its prices, as input costs continue to rise.
Gooljar-Singh said the main costs include natural gas, imported spares and raw materials needed to manufacture quality cement.
In January, TCL said it had no intention of introducing any immediate or short-term price increases. At the time its sole local competitor, Rock Hard Distributors, increased its prices after government raised duties to 50 per cent on cement and raw materials, and set the quota at 75,000 tonnes. It imported cement from Turkey. Rock Hard – which operated under a St Lucia-based enterprise – lost court challenges to the measures in July and shut down its Trinidad operations in September.
In July, TCL promised to maintain its prices despite significant losses which it said were the result of government's covid19 regulations.
News of TCL's impending price increases is not going down well with hardware owners. Some questioned the timing of the increases – five days before Christmas Day – and also in the midst of the pandemic, when many, including businesses and consumers, are struggling to make ends meet.
A hardware owner said government must st
