MALAYSIA: Cement short: Sibu worried despite arrival of 2,000 tonnes from Kuching

SIBU: The shortage of cement for the construction industry is expected to remain, despite the arrival of 2,000 tonnes from Kuching yesterday.

Industry sources said there was more than 50% less cement in the market compared to three weeks ago when the crisis first started.

They estimated that Sibu required between 15,000 and 17,000 tonnes monthly.

“The output for our ready mixed concrete factory is more than 60% lower this month,” its director, who declined to be named, told The Star.

He said under normal circumstances, his factory required more than 3,000 tonnes a month.

“Our factory is open everyday, but the workers have no work to do.”

According to him, the shortage began in early December when he was notified by the state’s sole cement manufacturer, CMS Cement Sdn Bhd, that its Bintulu factory had broken down.

It took the Bintulu factory, which had a daily production capacity of 1,800 tonnes, about four days to resume production, but it could not cope with the overwhelming demand in Bintulu itself and also from Miri and the Murum dam in Belaga.

The Bintulu factory supplied most of the cement by land for the ready mixed concrete industry while the Kuching factory supplied construction and building industries in Sibu.

The director said the problem was aggravated by the poor weather in Kuching which prevented or delayed the loading of cement into cargo vessels bound for Sibu.

He said the most affected were the 13 ready mixed cement factories in Sibu.

“We all are incurring heavy losses and still in the dark as to when supply will return to normal.”

A contractor, Alan Kong, said he had to stop all work before Christmas because there was totally no cement for the past several days.

“I am worried because our suppliers could not assure me when supply would return to normal,” Kong said, adding that many of his clients wanted to move into their new homes or start doing business in their new shops before the Chinese New Year.

Kong said he was also worried about how to pay his workers when they returned from the Christmas holidays.

“In our line of work, no cement means no work, and no work means no income and no money to pay salaries.”