Photo shows a view of CMS’ Cement Plant at Mambong, Kuching. – File photo
KUCHING: CMS Cement Industries Sdn Bhd (CMSCI), a subsidiary of Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, has no plans to increase the prices of its cement anytime soon, said its chief executive officer Suhadi Sulaiman.
Responding to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s recent call for the authorities to probe the difference in cement prices between Sarawak and the peninsula, he said the enquiry would show that CMSCI had not raised its prices since January 2016.
“We welcome the enquiry for two reasons …. Firstly, it will show that the disparity in prices is purely due to the recent aggressive price war which led to industry mergers and acquisitions in Peninsular Malaysia.
“Secondly, an enquiry of this nature will also serve to show once and for all that Sarawak is not and never has been a cement monopoly,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Lim had said that an investigation was necessary to determine if the practice of local industrial monopoly in Sarawak resulted in high cement prices in the state.
The price of cement in Sarawak, he noted, was significantly higher than in the peninsula.
Suhadi said other industry players were welcome to set up shop but choose not to venture into Sarawak because the initial start-up costs for development of infrastructure and haulage made it non-viable.
According to him, CMSCI has been able to offset and spread these operations costs year in and year out by being in operation for over 40 years.
“CMSCI will cooperate openly and transparently with any enquiry because any enquiry will show that we operate at the highest levels of business and retail integrity,” he added. — Bernama