सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. The Nepal Cement Producers Association has said that it had to increase the price of cement due to load shedding. After receiving heavy criticism for rigging the price of cement, the association said that it had increased the price due to the increase in cost price.
Association President Raghu Nandan Maru said that the price adjustment had to be made because the cement was sold at less than the cost price. President Maru said that all industries are running at a loss. No cement industry has been able to operate profitably, we have adjusted the price, not increased it.
Association General Secretary Bishnu Neupane said that there was load shedding in the industry for 12 hours. He said, “Due to load shedding, the per unit cost of the cement industry has increased from Rs 10 to Rs 18. Generators have to be used during 12 hours of load shedding. The construction industry has not been able to pay the remaining payments to the cement industry.”
The cement industry has incurred huge losses due to interest and installment payments on loans taken from banks, purchase and import of raw materials, and the industry has been facing 12-hour daily power cuts from the Nepal Electricity Authority for the past few months. The association says that the industry cannot operate due to the increase in production costs and increase in transportation fares while operating the industry by arranging alternative energy from generators.
The industry has been unable to pay the salaries and allowances of its employees, payment of electricity tariffs, purchase of fuel for alternative energy, raw materials, etc. The price of cement has fallen dramatically in the past due to the compulsion to manage liquidity by selling cement at a price much lower than the cost of production to meet regular expenses such as material payments, bank installments and interest payments.
The association says that out of the total 65 cement industries operating in Nepal, 22 cement-producing industries have completely closed down by this period.
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