Caribbean Cement Company on Wednesday officially requested the Antidumping and Subsidies Commission (ADSC) to investigate the sale of cement sold to local importers by Vulcan Materials Company - suppliers to Tank-Weld Metals - which the local manufacturer is not only saying is being dumped on the local market, but is providing super profits to the local importer.

Carib Cement said Vulcan is selling its cement to Jamaica at below fair market prices and is also claiming that the lower prices are not being passed on to Jamaican consumers. The local manufacturer estimates that "there is a 71.53 per cent differential between the sale of the cement by Vulcan and what it is sold for on the local market".

"It has been the practice of cement importers to hinge their prices to that of Carib Cement, always setting their prices a little lower," said Carib Cement's statement on Wednesday. "Not even the consumer benefits from this unfair practice."

Last December, Tank-Weld signed a distribution agreement with US construction firm Vulcan Materials to supply cement to the Jamaican market.

Under the agreement, Tank-Weld imports cement from Vulcan and distributes it from its Rio Bueno port plant in Trelawny.

Tank-Weld's group CEO, Chris Bicknell, told Caribbean Business Report via e-mail that "Carib Cement's anti-dumping complaint is completely misconceived and will be vigorously resisted by Tank-Weld".

"Jamaican consumers of cement can rest assured that Tank-Weld will do its utmost to ensure that Jamaica is not returned to the days when we were at the mercy of a foreign-owned monopoly supplier of a product that is so critical to the national economy," said Bicknell yesterday.

Over the years, CCCL has won three antidumping cases after which the Jamaican Government slapped heavy duties on cement imported from Thailand, Indonesia and China.