Tee (second left) and his vice president William Ooi (left) paid a courtesy call on Sumardi (centre), Yong (right) and Rajesh.
KOTA KINABALU (Dec 23): Kota Kinabalu Hardware, Machinery and Building Materials Traders Association (KKHMBA) chairman Dato’ Stanley Tee has urged Cement Industries (Sabah) Sdn Bhd to seek additional suppliers for raw materials to address the shortage of cement supply.
He said the cement shortage would dampen development projects in Sabah.
As the only cement plant in Sabah, he said Cement Industries (Sabah) Sdn Bhd should have contingency plans in place by sourcing more suppliers for raw materials and cement clinker, as well as train local technicians who are able to resolve issues in the production chain.
Tee said this after a courtesy call on Cement Industries (Sabah) Sdn Bhd general manager Hj Sumardi Mohd Yusof, production manager Rajesh Datuk Hj Yusof and marketing manager Melvyn Yong where the association was told reasons for the cement shortage.
“According to Cement Industries (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, several factors have contributed to the shortage of cement supply in the market, including the delay in the shipment of clinker and malfunctioning machines in the production line.”
Tee said the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the import of spare parts from Japan and Germany and the lack of local specialized technician to repair the machines have hindered the production.
In addition, he said an employee in the packaging department contracted Covid-19 in November, resulting in more than 30 workers being subjected to home quarantine.
“This has affected the packaging of the 50-kilogramme (kg) bag, but cement that did not require packaging were unaffected.”
Tee said Cement Industries (Sabah) Sdn Bhd was handling the problems, including running the production line round the clock.
He said packaging workers would be working from 8 am to 2 am from Monday to Saturday, and 8 am to 8 pm on Sunday.
He added that the company’s Lahad Datu plant would produce 1,800 tonnes of cement daily while its Sepanggar plant would produce 2,000 tonnes daily of the 50 kg bag.
Furthermore, he said the plant would produce 60 trucks of jumbo bags of cement everyday.
Tee said Cement Industries (Sabah) Sdn Bhd was expected to restore cement supply by the end of December and meet all the orders placed.
On another note, Cement Industries (Sabah) Sdn Bhd recently announced on November 18 that it would increase the bulk cement price by RM45/ton. The company attributed the exchange rate, supply of raw materials, escalating logistics and ocean freight costs for the price hike. The last price increase of RM20 per metric tonne was 13 years ago in 2008.
Tee urged the cement plant to enhance its management, employees’ attitude, crisis management, supply, secure additional raw material suppliers and train local technicians in tandem with its price hike.
He said the shortage of cement would affect hardware, machinery, building materials traders as well as developments in Sabah.