TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO:More cement coming as workers take contracts

Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) plans to increase its production of cement over the next few weeks as they expect more workers to break the picket line and accept individual contracts. So said TCL's production manager, Keith Ramjitsingh, as he took the media on a tour of the mill circuit and roller press plants at the Claxton Bay factory yesterday.

Ramjitsingh said TCL was putting strategies in place to satisfy its bulk and retail sack markets. On a regular basis, he explained, the miller and roller press plant can produce 3,000 tonnes of cement daily. Currently, the plant is operating on an eight hour basis. “What we did yesterday in six hours was to produce 370 tonnes of cement. That equates close to 60 tonnes per hour. The good news is that is one of the highest production capacity per hour we have ever gotten on the roller press since the plant was commissioned. That was an excellent effort on behalf of people who worked,” Ramjitsingh said.

If production continues, he said, TCL would be able to satisfy the bulk market. “This markets requires about 4,000 tonnes of cement per week and we are doing 480 tonnes daily in one shift. At this capacity we will satisfy the bulk market. “The plan is that we will eventually do two shifts on the roller press mode. That will give us 6000 tonnes per week and will surpass what is required for the bulk market. Therefore plan B will kick in, where we will start packing some of these cement through the sack packing plant.”

Ramjitsingh said the Mayo plant has not re-started because TCL does not require slurry (raw material) at this time. At present the plant has a stock pile of 25,000 tonnes of clinker to manufacture the cement. “This stockpile of 25,000 tonnes of clinker will give us 35,000 tonnes of cement. If we do over 3,000 tonnes of cement per week, at this present single shift, it will last about 10 weeks. Importation will be a backup plan,” he said.

He added that TCL is not breaking any safety rules because the people who are running the plants now are highly trained. General Manager Satnarine Bachew urged consumers to exercise care when purchasing cement since some hardware dealers were continuing to hoard cement and sell it at black market prices.

Bachew said cement was being imported from Jamaica and Barbados to service the retail markets so there is sufficient cement to satisfy local demands. He said it was unlikely, given the economic slowdown, that TCL would provide more than a 6.5 per cent increase to workers since labour costs account for of 32 per cent of the company’s expenditure and workers are already earning high salaries. Bachew said a labourer at TCL earns more than $13,000 monthly.