CEMENT PRICE INCREMENT SCARES LOCAL CONTRACTORS

By NAMO PHIRI

INDIGENOUS Zambian Contractors Association (IZCA) has disclosed that some contractors will suffer losses owing to the announced 14% percent price hike by Chilanga Cement.

Chilanga Cement Plc announced a 14 percent hike for its products, citing increased transportation and electricity costs.

Commenting on the impact that this move would have on the construction industry, IZCA President Humphrey Musonda said the move will have a negative impact on the contractors who had already been contracted for projects.

“Cement is the main ingredient in any construction because whether steel construction or any other type of construction, we always use cement and so you can see how important it is to us that we have stable prices of the commodity.

“We have contracts whose structures were done a year or two years ago, meaning everything was already put in place and in this case we lose out because we would have to spend more than what we will get,” Mr. Musonda said.

He said the contractors will consider increasing the pricing for their services by a similar percentage.

“Obviously if there is an increment of 14 percent, it means this will reflect in our services which will mean us making a loss,” he said. 

He said the contractors would now have to increase their Bills of Quantities (BoQs) by 14 percent as well to ensure that they maintained a balance.

He appealed to Chilanga Cement and other stakeholders such as the Government to sit on the table and find a way of minimizing the increment.

He said Chilanga Cement and the Government should find a way of minimizing the impact because this in itself would have a negative ripple effect on not only the contractors, but the economy as a whole.