Cement “shortage”…Emergency shipment arrives from Jamaica

Mar 10, 2012 News

TCL Guyana Incorporated (TGI) yesterday announced the arrival of

The vessel with the cement shipment at TGI facilities, Water Street, yesterday.

5200 metric tons of cement, the first of several shipments organised by the company to alleviate shortages in the market.
The company is being heavily affected by industrial action at TCL Trinidad, its regular supply source.
There are heavy concerns over local supplies with prices shooting up by more than $500 and in some cases to around $2000.
TGI said that the vessel, “Vine 3”carrying Carib Cement Plus arrived in Guyana yesterday. The next shipment, of a similar amount, is estimated to arrive on March 25th.
TGI’s Plant Manager, Mark Bender, expressed confidence in the company’s plan to mitigate the impact on the market and by extension the country’s construction sector.
According to the company, it has “precise knowledge of the market’s requirement and will be strategically managing supply from its subsidiary companies to ensure consistent supply. TGI is part of a group of cement plants strategically positioned across the Caribbean, which have been playing a significant role in the region’s construction sector over many years. Given this, we have the expertise and knowledge in the movement of cement throughout CARICOM and are able to ship product to market in a relatively short time.”
Bender also expressed concerns over what he termed as price gouging.
“In view of the arrangements being made to supply the market and the fact that TGI has not increased its ex-factory price to distributors, the company is appealing for stable pricing as it understands that the price is being taken up to unjustified levels”.
TGI advises that there is no need to alter mix designs when using any of the brands manufactured within the TCL Group. “The members of the TCL Group are actively engaged in a stringent inter-laboratory testing scheme, which is done in conjunction with the CTL Group, a leader in construction materials testing.”
Consequently, uniformity and consistency are checked throughout the year internally as well as externally.