Kumasi, Sept. 21, GNA - The Ashanti Regional branch of Cement and Iron Rods Distributors and Retailers Association has increased the price of cement from 66,000 cedis to 70,000 cedis per bag with effect from Monday, September 18.

The increase in the price of "Ghacem Cement" was the result of a 3,000 cedis increment announced by Ghana Cement Company Limited last week, Nana Kwaku Owusu-Ansah, regional chairman of the Association, said at a press briefing in Kumasi on Wednesday.

He said the ex-factory price of cement was 49,000 cedis, exclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT) and National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) totalling 7,350 cedis, while haulage fare from the factory amounts to 7,500 cedis.

All this add up to 63,850 cedis, adding that the difference of 6,150 cedis covers income tax and other overhead expenses. Nana Owusu-Ansah said it was not the intention of his Association to increase cement prices arbitrarily and appealed to the public not to blame them for the increase.

He expressed dissatisfaction with the current intermittent increases in the price of cement without any pre-emptive information, saying it was creating unnecessary speculations and panic among distributors and the general public.

"Undoubtedly no person on this land is not affected when prices of any commodity are increased but for cement, the effect is so hard-hitting that it takes a longer time to get over," Nana Owusu-Ansah added.

Mr Emmanuel Obudai, Marketing Officer of the Ghacem Depot in Kumasi, confirmed the price increases in an interview with the Ghana News Agency and attributed it to the rise in the prices of clinker on the international market.

Clinker is a raw material used in the production of cement.