business

CAPAC: cement prices too high

The Camara Panameña de la Construcción (CAPAC) sent a letter last Wednesday to the general managers of Cemex and Cemento Panamá complaining about the soaring price of concrete.

According to the letter, concrete producers have been increasing the price of their product over the past two years at a rate of 26 percent annually.

While the producers have defended their price hikes as being linked to the rising cost of fuel, CAPAC officials have countered that the two do not appear to be related. As fuel prices have dropped recently, cement prices have either remained the same or increased.

CAPAC President Walter Medrano said that the high price of concrete was having an adverse affect on the country's construction industry.

The group is calling on the concrete producers to review their pricing policies to “offer consumers reasonably competitive prices and thus avoid an impact on construction costs, which impinge on the sustainable growth of the industry and the ability of buyers to make purchases.”

Cemex General Manager Ramón Pizá is not in the city and has not seen the letter, according to sources from the company.

Cemento Panamá officials noted that the company's last rate hike was in June, but declined further comment about the issue.