HIMALAYA: Six cement brands told to halt production

KATHMANDU; Department of Commerce today ordered six cement brands to stop production after their products failed to meet quality test.

Kamal Bahadur Thapa, inspection officer of the department, told The Himalayan Times that DoC had directed them to submit clarification to the department within seven days. “If their clarification fails to satisfy DoC, it will file cases against them under the consumer laws,” he added.

DoC monitoring team had collected samples of Nepal Ambuja, Reliance, Agni, Narayani, Jagadamba and Butwal cement from Kathmandu on June 15 and sent them to Department of Standard and Measurement for quality test.

DoSM found that the cement samples did not meet Nepal Standard. The report submitted to DoC last week revealed that six brands –– Mahalaskhmi Super Quality 53 grade OPC, Reliance Super Shakti PPC, Agni 53 Grade OPC, Trishakti OPC, Ultra Premium OPC and Nirvan 53 Grade OPC –– did not meet NS 49 (composition of raw materials) and NS 385 (compressive strength of cement). 

According to DoSM, none of the cement brands passed minimum 16 Mpa compressive strength requirement. Compressive strength of the samples was between 11 Mpa and 13 Mpa. Low compression in cement is caused by improper use of raw materials –– limestone, sand, shale, clay, and clinkers.