Cement cos for allowing gradual installments to pay gas, power bills and taxes

Cement manufacturers have urged the government to facilitate them creating the scope of gradual installments to pay the bills of gas and electricity and other taxes for July to December.

Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) made the plea to overcome the present crisis following the prolonged lockdown enforced to contain the COVID-19.

"It will be possible for the cement manufacturers to pay the salary of workers and employees if gradual installments are allowed to pay the bills of gas and electricity and other taxes for July to December," the BCMA president Md. Alamgir Kabir said in a statement.

He said the cement manufactures are bearing current expenses along with paying salary of their workers and employees despite productions remained closed in around 90 per cent factories.

"The LCs (letter credit) opened so far to import raw materials have become a big burden for the manufacturers amid no prediction regarding quick improvement of the situation," Mr. Kabir said.

He said 49 mother vessels presently are waiting in the sea ports with different raw materials for the cement industry.

"But unloading from these mother vessels could not be done due to the current situation."

The BCMA president said the interests on the capitals provided by banks are on rise and the quick solutions of other problems are also not known to them.

He said the stimulus package announced by the government also includes the cement sector.

"But the financial support through the stimulus package may be determined on priority basis. Burden of loans may be intensified at this," Mr. Kabir said.

He is also skeptical about disbursement of large volume of loans as the scope of receiving deposits is declining and liquidity shortage is becoming acute.

"We are also getting a hint that the growth of GDP and revenue collection will sharply decline. Remittance flow will be hampered as the source countries are also affected," said the BCMA president Mr. Kabir.

He said the consumption of cement will decline significantly if the flow of foreign remittance and and exports decline.

"Millions of workers and employees are engaged in the cement sector. Many of them will be jobless and the government's revenue income will decline as well unless the industry is saved," the BCMA president said.

Total investment in cement sector stood at around Tk 300 billion, of which Tk 190 billion came through bank loans.

Presently, 38 companies, including two multinationals, are manufacturing cement for local and overseas markets. Of the companies, seven are listed on the stock exchanges.

The listed companies are Aramit Cement, Confidence Cement, Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh, Meghna Cement Mills, M. I. Cement Factory and Premier Cement Mills.

The overall production capacity of the cement sector has crossed 62 million metric tonnes per year against the demand for 34 million metric tonnes with 43 per cent overcapacity.

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