Sri Lanka's cement supplies remain disrupted amid price controls and posturing by rulers and the co-operative sector involved in another controversy, in a repetition of a similar debacle in the poultry sector.
The Daily Mirror newspaper said Monday three cement firms have written to Sri Lanka's consumer affairs agency which has imposed price controls on cement to raise prices by 35 rupees to 785 rupees a per 50 kilogram sack.
The newspaper said the firms said world market prices and raw material prices have increased.
On Tuesday the Daily FT newspaper said the authority had denied the request.
Sri Lanka's construction industry has been hit by cement shortages in the past few weeks as world prices went up.
A 'shortage' happens only when prices are controlled by the state as it prevents new supplies, especially through imports coming in at higher prices to bridge supply gaps.
The price controls also automatically create a 'black market'.
In the 1970s when Sri Lanka was a controlled economy price controls, shortages, black-markets and queues.
At the time grandstanding by rulers and officials about 'hoarders' and black marketers were common.
Media reports said the consumer authority had 'raided' 800 retailers.
The co-operative movement which got supplies backed by the state and issued the goods under 'rations' ruled the roost. Reports of 'leaked' goods abounded.
Similar dramas are now being played out.
The Sunday Times newspaper said Sri Lanka National Co-operatives Board, a state entity with connections to the ministry of trade had imported substandard cement from Pakistan and a large stock has been 'leaked'.
Construction industry officials have warned that the import of substandard cement could lead to bad construction, building collapses and lives being lost.
In July Sri Lanka's media reported a case where Lanka Sathosa Limited another state entity had 'leaked' chicken imported from India.
The co-operative and state enterprises get tax breaks and financial support backed by taxes charged from the people to be in business.
Sri Lanka's poultry industry was also disrupted by state price controls on one side and restriction on the import of maize on the other.
Many chicken farmers were driven out of business by high maize prices during a downturn in 2009. But a recovery in the industry was delayed due to price controls.
At one time chicken disappeared from super market shelves and were only available in the 'black market'.
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