Cement shortage disappearing as price soar

COLOMBO (News 1st); Private builders and contractors are facing major issues in purchasing cement, following the increase in prices by the manufacturers.

At the same time, there appears to be no cement shortage in the local market after the price hike.

"We assumed that the cement prices will drop when a cement plant was constructed in Hambantota. What happened was the opposite, and prices soared by at least Rs. 1000/-," said one local who was en route to purchase cement, adding that the same can be said about tyres and steel.

Another local alleged that the shortage was man-made in order to move towards a price hike.

At the same time, government builders are in limbo, unable to be certain if contractors can meet their targets with the previously estimated prices before the cement companies decided to hike their prices.