Parliament approves 40 per cent cement tariff
published: Wednesday | December 1, 2004

By Al Edwards, Financial Editor

THE IMPOSITION of a 40 per cent Common External Tariff (CET) on imported Portland Grey cement was approved in Parliament yesterday. This decision now clears the way for the Caribbean Cement Company (CCC) to concentrate on its US$100 million expansion project.

Last year the anti-Dumping commission recommended to the Government that a 40 per cent tariff should be imposed on imported Portland Grey (building cement) and in December of last year it imposed an interim tariff of 40 per cent. This decision was taken to stem the flow of imported cement mainly from China, Thailand and Egypt that irked the country's leading supplier, Caribbean Cement Company.

"Both the Government and Opposition approved the imposition of a 40 per cent CET on building cement without any acrimony, and we are extremely pleased with this decision and that this matter has now come to an end," Caribbean Cement Company's General Manager Anthony Haynes told Wednesday Business last night. "We can now concentrate on moving ahead on the expansion of our production facilities.

"For the better part of a year, we have said that we are able to supply the home market of which for this year we possess 91 per cent. We believe that the cement market is still growing in Jamaica and we want an even bigger market share."

Mr. Haynes added that since the imposition of the provisional tariff imposed on December 16, 2003 there has been at least two shipments of imported cement and it is not known how many more shipments are expected.

EXPANSION PROJECT

Carib Cement is looking to regional banks to borrow US$100 million to finance the expansion of its facilities and will now press ahead to that end. The project is expected to come on stream sometime in 2008.

It has already identified a preferred supplier for its expansion equipment, but Mr. Haynes declined to name the company at this time. A subsidiary of Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), Carib Cement has already conducted technical analysis of the expansion site and has applied to NEPA for an environmental permit, having conducted an environmental risk-factor assessment.

Unaudited results for the quarter ended March 31, reveal that CCC made an after tax profit of $163 million, a vast improvement on the $43 million posted for the same period in 2003. The company's improved net profit figure is largely attributable to an increase in cement production.