NCC floods market with Pakistani cement

3.5 mn kg imported from Thatta bear SLS mark

by Lal Gunesekera

Twenty-five containers of cement, from Thatta company, Pakistan have arrived in the Port of Colombo. The cement had been imported by the National Cooperative Council (NCC). Each container holds 560 bags weighing 50 kg each.

A spokesman for the NCC told The Island yesterday (12) that 15 containers had already been released by the Customs, while ten more were to be released later yesterday. A further consignment of 25 containers is scheduled to arrive in Colombo next week. The entire consignment of cement from Pakistan’s Thatta company comprises 42,000 bags weighing 2.1 million kg.

He said that the wholesale price of a 50 kg bag of cement will be Rs. 645, while the maximum retail price will be Rs. 750.

The NCC spokesman told The Island that 50 containers of cement from Lucky Cement Company, also of Pakistan, will arrive in Colombo on Saturday (17).

Chairman of Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI), Kanchana Ratwatte told The Island that Thatta Company already has the SLS mark since 2008, while Lucky Cement’s SLS mark, which was suspended earlier, was reinstated on September 8.

He also said that it was the manufacture’s who should apply to obtain the SLS mark.

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