Bangladesh sees imports of raw materials rise
The import of raw materials used in cement production has increased in recent months despite raw material prices increasing. In the July-August 2022 period a total of 5.12Mt of clinker, granulated slag, limestone, gypsum and fly ash were imported. The imports represent a value of BDT23.038bn (US$242.4m), up 34 per cent YoY. Clinker prices have increased 17.5 per cent YoY to US$62.14 on average.
To safeguard profit margins cement producers have increased the price per bag on the back of a US dollar vs taka exchange rate hike. The price of a 50kg bag of cement has increased by BDT50-70 to BDT470-510/bag in the last month.
"The whole world is going through instability after COVID-19. We are no exception…Our costs have gone up by 20 per cent to 22 per cent due to the rise in the dollar rate," Hakim Ali, director of Diamond Cement, told The Daily Star.
In addition, products purchased earlier are now requiring payments at the current US dollar rate. As a result, it will be difficult to overcome these losses and sustain production, he said.
"We have been forced to increase the price of cement for the hike of the dollar price although the price of raw materials in international markets has been stable over the past month," said Golam Kibria, general manager of Premier Cement Mills Ltd. He claimed that all the manufacturers were facing losses of huge amounts for this. "Earlier, we opened an LC (letter of credit) at a dollar rate of BDT87 but recently paid BDT112 per dollar and faced huge losses," he said.
