Ghana’s cement market is facing a new price pressure, but the bigger concern may not be the GH¢12 itself. It is how competing cement manufacturers have arrived at the same surcharge and what that could mean for competition, consumers and the construction industry.
The Chamber of Cement Manufacturers, Ghana (COCMAG) has announced a uniform GH¢12 per 50kg bag clinker demurrage surcharge, following a sharp increase in delays at the Tema Port. The surcharge is intended to help manufacturers recover the rising cost of keeping vessels waiting at the port.
But CUTS International says the collective decision by competing manufacturers to impose the same charge raises a serious cartel red flag. Here is what the development means in simple terms.
First, What Exactly is the GH¢12 Surcharge?
A surcharge is essentially an additional charge added to the price of a product to recover a particular cost. In this case, cement manufacturers say the additional cost is coming from demurrage.
Demurrage is the money paid when a vessel remains at port beyond the period allowed under its shipping arrangements. If ships carrying clinker, the key raw material used to produce cement, are forced to wait longer because of port congestion, the cost to the importer increases. COCMAG says vessel waiting times at Tema Port have risen from about seven days in January to between 30 and more than 40 days in August 2026.
The industry estimates that this has generated between US$45 million and US$50 million in demurrage costs during the first eight months of the year. The manufacturers therefore want to recover part of this additional cost from the market. The proposed GH¢12 consists of GH¢10 before tax, plus GH¢2 in taxes and levies. Put simply, if a bag of cement previously cost GH¢100, for example, passing the entire surcharge directly to the consumer would take the price to GH¢112.
The actual final price will depend on how each manufacturer, distributor and retailer handles the additional cost.
Why is CUTS International Worried?
The concern is not that cement manufacturers are trying to recover their costs. Businesses are entitled to recover legitimate costs and make profits. The problem is that several companies that compete with one another have agreed on the same GH¢12 surcharge. Normally, if six companies face the same industry-wide problem, they would examine their own costs and make separate commercial decisions.
One company could decide:
“Our additional cost is GH¢8 per bag, so we will pass on GH¢8.” Another could decide: “Our cost is GH¢12, so we will charge GH¢12.”
A third might decide to absorb part of the cost and charge only GH¢5 because it wants to keep its prices attractive and win customers. That is the basic mechanism of competition. But if all the competitors agree that every consumer should pay GH¢12, the differences between their individual costs no longer translate into differences in prices.
This is where CUTS International fears that the concern of a cartel emerges.
How the Arrangement Could Weaken Competition
Imagine six cement producers operating in the same market. Under normal competition, their costs could look like this:
| Manufacturer | Additional cost | Possible surcharge |
|---|---|---|
| Company A | GH¢5 | GH¢5 |
| Company B | GH¢8 | GH¢8 |
| Company C | GH¢10 | GH¢10 |
| Company D | GH¢12 | GH¢12 |
| Company E | GH¢7 | GH¢7 |
| Company F | GH¢15 | GH¢15 |
The prices would differ because the businesses have different shipping contracts, suppliers, production technologies, financing costs, logistics arrangements and exposure to port delays. But if all six companies agree to charge GH¢12, the market effectively moves towards:
Company A — GH¢12
Company B — GH¢12
Company C — GH¢12
Company D — GH¢12
Company E — GH¢12
Company F — GH¢12
That is the central issue CUTS is highlighting. A company that could have charged GH¢5 no longer has the incentive to do so. And consumers lose one of the most important benefits of competition, which is the possibility of getting a lower price from a more efficient producer.
Why This Could Keep Cement Prices Higher
If manufacturers pass the full surcharge through, GH¢12 is added to every 50kg bag. But the longer-term concern is more significant. Once a uniform surcharge becomes embedded in market prices, it could become difficult for prices to fall even when the underlying cost pressure eases.
For example, if port congestion improves and demurrage costs decline, competition should normally encourage individual manufacturers to reduce or remove their surcharges. But where competitors have established a common pricing mechanism, there is a risk that the additional charge becomes sticky. This could keep cement prices higher than they would otherwise have been.
Why Construction Could Feel the Impact
Cement is not simply just another product. It is a fundamental input into housing, roads, commercial buildings, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure.
A GH¢12 increase on one bag may appear small. But construction projects use cement in large quantities. For illustration, a project requiring 1,000 bags would face an additional:
1,000 × GH¢12 = GH¢12,000.
At 10,000 bags, the additional cost becomes: 10,000 × GH¢12 = GH¢120,000
And that is before considering any knock-on effects from higher prices charged by distributors, contractors or other suppliers. For a developer, contractor or individual building a house, these additional costs can eventually feed into the total cost of construction.
The Local Airline Industry offers a Useful Lesson
CUTS uses Ghana’s airline industry to demonstrate how the same principle of surcharge can work differently. Airlines also face fluctuating fuel costs and frequently impose fuel surcharges. But competing airlines do not necessarily charge the same amount.
For the Accra-Kumasi route on September 15, 2026, the information presented by CUTS shows:
Africa World Airlines — GH¢220 fuel surcharge
PassionAir — GH¢75 surcharge
Both airlines face fuel costs, but their operating structures are different. They use different aircraft, have different fuel consumption rates, fleet structures, contracts and commercial strategies. So they make independent decisions about how much of their costs to pass on to passengers.
This is the lesson CUTS wants the cement industry to consider. Same problem does not necessarily mean same price. Cement manufacturers may all be suffering from congestion at Tema Port.
But that does not automatically mean that their individual costs are identical. A manufacturer with a long-term shipping contract may have a different exposure from one relying heavily on spot arrangements.
A company with lower demurrage exposure may face a smaller cost. A more efficient producer may decide to absorb some of the increase to attract customers. Another producer may have to pass on more.
What Should Happen Now?
The immediate solution to the underlying problem is not necessarily to prevent manufacturers from recovering their costs. It is to address the cause of those costs, congestion and delays at Tema Port, while preserving independent pricing decisions.
Government and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority therefore need to urgently tackle the operational problems contributing to excessive vessel waiting times and demurrage.
At the same time, cement manufacturers should be allowed to independently determine their own prices and surcharges based on their actual costs.
And COCMAG should clarify whether the GH¢12 is merely an industry position or whether its members are expected to apply the same surcharge.
