It never ceases to amaze me that you can buy a tonne of cement so cheaply. The standard worldwide price of 42.5 cement is only $60-80/t. In a few countries it might nudge $100/t and in some out-of-the-way spots, generally land-locked and a long way from competition from importers, it will peak at past $200/t. However, for most producers, the most they will receive for their efforts in producing this miracle material is a measly hundred bucks - max. Take away the costs of production (especially the ever-increasing costs of raw materials, electrical energy, fuel, transport, labour, maintenance and finance*) and a cement producer is lucky to manage a 10% margin. If there is competition in a particular market then margins will drop below 5% - perhaps even below 0% (and that is when the trouble starts).
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