12 cement factories facing crisis in Khulna
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Our Correspondent
KHULNA, April 15: Twelve cement factories at Nowapara are facing crisis due to shortage of running capital, raw material and lack of government patronage, industry sources said.
Ahad Cement, Niloy Portland Cement, Niloy White Cement, Himaloy Cement, Macca Cement, Bright Cement, Khulna Cement, Nur Cement, Haque Cement, Karim Cement, AR Cement and Eagle Cement factories were established in Nowapara under Jessore district in the last one decade.
At present, most of the factories remained closed. Only three factories are functioning very slowly. Concerned businesspersons apprehend that the remaining factories would be closed within a short time.
Ahad, Niloy Portland, Mecca, Bright, Khulna, Nur, Karim and Golden Eagle Cement factories have been closed leaving thousands of workers jobless.
King, Akij, Scan and Elephant brand cements have grabbed the markets in this area now with their products.
About 3.5 metric tonnes of cement was produced in 12 cement factories per day and supplied to the different places of the country after meeting local demands.
Source said that the owners of the cement factories ran their plants purchasing clinkers from the smugglers and evading VAT due to price hike of clinkers in the world market. Some unscrupulous factory owners also used excessive fly ash in their production for a windfall profit. As a result, ironically, cement quality fell and market squeezed.
At the same time electricity bill and bank interest also increased and the factory owners declared closed the mills one after another.
However, the Prime Minister has directed recently the industries ministry to reopen the closed mills in the country. The mill owners demanded easy bank loans and other facilities for smooth implementation of the PM's directives.
KHULNA, April 15: Twelve cement factories at Nowapara are facing crisis due to shortage of running capital, raw material and lack of government patronage, industry sources said.
Ahad Cement, Niloy Portland Cement, Niloy White Cement, Himaloy Cement, Macca Cement, Bright Cement, Khulna Cement, Nur Cement, Haque Cement, Karim Cement, AR Cement and Eagle Cement factories were established in Nowapara under Jessore district in the last one decade.
At present, most of the factories remained closed. Only three factories are functioning very slowly. Concerned businesspersons apprehend that the remaining factories would be closed within a short time.
Ahad, Niloy Portland, Mecca, Bright, Khulna, Nur, Karim and Golden Eagle Cement factories have been closed leaving thousands of workers jobless.
King, Akij, Scan and Elephant brand cements have grabbed the markets in this area now with their products.
About 3.5 metric tonnes of cement was produced in 12 cement factories per day and supplied to the different places of the country after meeting local demands.
Source said that the owners of the cement factories ran their plants purchasing clinkers from the smugglers and evading VAT due to price hike of clinkers in the world market. Some unscrupulous factory owners also used excessive fly ash in their production for a windfall profit. As a result, ironically, cement quality fell and market squeezed.
At the same time electricity bill and bank interest also increased and the factory owners declared closed the mills one after another.
However, the Prime Minister has directed recently the industries ministry to reopen the closed mills in the country. The mill owners demanded easy bank loans and other facilities for smooth implementation of the PM's directives.