BLOCKMAKERS said they had no choice but to increase the price of their products by 17.5 per cent this week, following the decision by Caribbean Cement Company Limited to increase its bulk cement price by 22 per cent.

Block prices went up by eight per cent in February of this year when cement prices were also increased.

Delroy Christie, president of the Block Makers Association, said cement, one of the main materials used in block making, has increased significantly in recent times.

“The cheaper cement is those sold in jumbo bags or in bulk, which is what we used, and that went up by a significantly higher percentage than the retail cement,” Christie told the Observer yesterday.

He said they have also been feeling the pinch in their production costs as fuel prices continue to increase.

“Every time fuel price goes up, the power cost also goes up as well as lubricants, oil, tyres and all maintenance cost goes up,” he added.

Christie said, too, that the industry has also been experiencing its fair share of difficulties from the cement shortage which almost crippled the construction sector.

“We are experiencing very difficult times because first of all the cement supply is irregular and so you can’t even guarantee when you can or can’t work and so you can’t produce efficiently anymore,” he said.

He added: “We can’t plan our work because we are operating factories and we don’t know when they will work and when they can’t, and that is costly.”

The introduction of imported cement from Cuba is of little comfort to the block makers who said it was just too expensive for them to afford.

Christie said the imported bag cement is sold for $435 plus tax, while Carib cement is being sold for $370 plus tax.

“Our increased prices are now based off the cheaper cement; can you imagine if we were using cement at $435 plus tax?”

He said while persons might not readily accept the increased prices they have to take into consideration their cost factors.

“What I find amazing is that people accept increases in steel and lumber, but they don’t accept increases in blocks,” he said.

Christie said while there was not as significant an increase in stones and sand – the other materials used in block making – they also attracted a price hike when there was a movement in the price of oil and electricity.

He said based on these factors, the association was unable to guarantee that there would not be another price increase in blocks soon.

“Depending on what our cost factors do, we don’t have control over their prices so we can’t predict what will happen in the future. We can only react to what happens in our market, and if our cost factors go up then we have to increase our cost,” Christie said.

– browni@jamaicaobserver.com