Displaying items by tag: subsidy

Nigeria: Oyebamiji Dauda, the chairman of the Lagos State Bricklayers’ Association, has urged the government to cut the price of cement. He wants it to make cement manufacturing more competitive by allowing more producers to operate in the market, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. He added that the ‘high’ cost of cement was negatively affecting building construction. Dauda’s ideas to ease the price of cement include government subsidy, tax breaks for local producers of building materials and further penalties for imported products.

China: Jidong Cement and its subsidies have received US$30m in subsidies from the Chinese government in the first half of 2019. It said that the subsidies were related to its daily activities, according to Reuters. The cement producer said that its estimated profit nearly doubled to US$134m in the reporting period following restructuring the company. Its cement and clinker sales volumes by 15% year-on-year to 45.76Mt.

Belarus: The government is considering offering subsidies to local cement producers. The matter was discussed at a meeting examining the performance of various companies chaired by the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, according to the Belarusian Telegraph Agency. First Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Turchin said that cement companies had invested in projects only for the price of cement to fall ‘dramatically’ leading to financial losses. If any aid is provided it will come with government-enforced targets.

India: The state government of Tamil Nadu has scaled down its support for the Amma Cement Supply Scheme. Sales data shows that the scheme failed to meet its targets in 2015 – 2016 and 2016 – 2017, according to the Hindu newspaper. Its highest level of sales was 52% of procurement in August 2016. The subsidised cement scheme was launched by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in 2014 to help lower and middle income groups purchase cement at subsidised prices.

India: The government of the Puducherry union territory has proposed a subsidised cement scheme for low and middle-income residents. The scheme will be named after former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, according to the Press Trust of India. The project intends to emulate the Amma Cement scheme currently running in Tamil Nadu. Cement for the scheme will be procured outside of the region due to a lack of production plants.