Two Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers urged the Fair Trade Commission yesterday to rein in what they called price rigging and market monopolization by cement makers.
Legislators Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) and Chen Chin-teh (陳金德) made the call at a joint news conference.
According to Tuan, cement consumption declined from 24.05 million tonnes in 1994 to 13.75 million tonnes last year and the production capacity utilization rate also fell from 95 percent to 65 percent during the same period.
However, Tuan said, the price of cement has not fallen as well. The price has skyrocketed in the past three years from NT$1,300 per tonne to NT$2,250.
Tuan claimed that cement manu-facturers have monopolized the market and rigged the price by preventing imports of lower-priced cement from the Philippines and South Korea, imposing a quota control system on storage facilities at various wharves and other acts.
Tuan claimed cement makers have colluded to cut production to create a false "short supply" phenomenon. They have also exported their "surplus" abroad at the low price of NT$761 per tonne, he said.
Tuan said cement makers' monopoly and price rigging measures have increased consumer prices, housing prices, public construction costs and have even hindered economic growth and progress in typhoon-stricken regions.
Tuan demanded that the commission launch a probe.
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