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Business News of Wednesday, 1 October 2014
Source: Citifmonline.com
The Managing Director (MD) of the Ghana Cement Company Limited (GHACEM), Morten Gade say prices of cement will go down should the cedi continue to stabilize.
Prices of cement increased drastically during the second quarter of 2014 due to erratic power supply and depreciation of the cedi against major foreign currencies.
This situation resulted in shortages and subsequent increment in prices of cement.
But it seems the cedi has for the past few weeks appreciated against some major trading currencies thus sparking calls from consumers for a decrease in prices of general goods.
Speaking to Citi News, the MD of the largest cement producer in Ghana, Ghacem, Morten Gade said “It’s a little bit early days to tell exactly how and when but definitely if we see a stable cedi we will also see cement prices coming down this year.”
He argued that lack of constant power supply can cause cement shortage because it will hamper its production.
“If I recall so far the power has been stable; however the biggest issue for us when it comes to power is not the tariff but the reliability. We have lost significant volumes particularly in Takoradi this year because we do not have a stable power and with an unstable power supply it means that we cannot produce when we don’t have power,” he added.
