Prime Minister Meles Zenawi revealed his hopes that the cement Derba-MIDROC pledged to import from abroad will arrive here in the coming "few weeks", but remained uncommitted to be more specific on the timeline.

He spoke to local journalists and international correspondents on Saturday afternoon, September 30, 2006 in his office, following the conclusion of the sixth party conference of the political coalition he leads.

Exactly three months have elapsed since the government signed a deal with Derba-MIDROC - one of the subsidiary companies of Sheik Mohammed Ali Al-Amoudi and run by former State Minister for Infrastructure, Haile Assegdie - allowing the company to import cement exempt from VAT and duty. The deal was signed between Girma Birru, minister of Trade and Industry, and Sheik Al-Amoudi, on June 29, at the Sheraton Addis.

It was highly anticipated by the market that the 1.5 million tonnes to be imported by Derba-MIDROC, established with a 2.4 billion Br capital, would mitigate the retail price of cement that the Prime Minister acknowledged has gone through  the "roof".

The gap between an ever increasing demand for cement - government sources estimate that it has now reached 15 million tonnes a year - and the limited supply of an aggregated 1.6 million tonnes, has attracted many companies into the industry in the past three years.

Although observed to be declining significantly to 240 Br per quintal last week, the retail price of cement per quintal was 300 Br only about a month ago.

This is a far cry from the 64 Br per quintal the market was offering two years ago. The wholesale price from the largest cement manufacturer, the state owned Mugar Cement, is now 115 Br per quintal.

"There were some expectations that cement would be imported by about now," Meles told members of the media who were invited to ask questions in relation to the party's latest conference in his capacity as a chair of his coalition, the EPRDF. "There has been some delay in this regard."

Derba-MIDROC officials remained secretive about any progress made in their cement importation effort. It is not clear at this stage whether they have actually bought the product, although there were widespread rumours about a purchase deal made with a company in Ukraine.

"I am told that the problems encountered by the company have now been overcome and we should be expecting cement perhaps in the next few weeks," said Prime Minister Meles.

According to sources, the problems he mentioned are related to transport issues; officials of the company were not available for comment.

The government, however, has granted similar privileges to other private companies provided that they furnish foreign currency from their own sources. Reliable sources disclosed that the Ministry of Trade and Industry issued permits to four companies, including Berta Construction. The latter has not been confirmed by managers of the company.