Cement shortage to be resolved soon: CMS

CMS Cement Sdn Bhd, Sarawak’s largest and sole cement producer and manufacturer, has given assurance that the current cement

shortage experienced by those in the construction industry in Miri will be resolved by next week.



Head of Cement Division, executive director and chief executive
officer of CMS Cement, Othman Abdul Rani said the current shortage was
largely due to disruption in the delivery of raw materials from Vietnam
and Thailand.



"In the production of cement, a variety of raw materials are
required, amongst which is clinker. While Malaysia does have clinker,
the domestic reserves of clinker are not sufficient to meet the output
demands. For this reason CMS Cement, like most cement manufacturers in
the country, turn to third party international suppliers, mainly from
Vietnam and Thailand to provide the raw material.


"Due to prolonged bad weather conditions (continuous rain) in


Vietnam and Thailand, the clinker raw material, could not be loaded
onto the vessels in time to meet our production schedule," he said in a
statement in Miri today.



He said both the shipments from Vietnam and Thailand have now been
delivered by third party vendors to CMS Cement’s Pending Grinding Plant
and thereby ground cement can be delivered sufficiently to the
company's bulk terminal in Miri.


"Our facilities will run 24 hours per day and at full capacity in
order to meet the demand. By operating at this capacity, we believe
that within just two weeks we will be able to clear all disrupted
delivery orders, maintain existing orders and stockpile reserves.


"This does not mean that there will be no cement for two weeks, as
the production has already resumed. Orders will be prioritised to clear
orders delayed by the weather conditions in Vietnam and Thailand."



He said in addition to the ramped-up production measures, CMS
Cement has already made arrangements to import 21,500 metric tonnes of
50kg bag cement and jumbo bag cement. The first shipment comprising
9,000 metric tonnes has already been delivered, with the second
shipment of 12,500 metric tonnes due to arrive on July 23.--BERNAMA