The Government of Honduras announced measures against those who apply a price increase announced by cement company Incehsa.
Benjamín Bográn, Industry and Commerce Minister, said that cement "is an important element in housing and infrastructure, so any increase must be first agreed with the Ministry".
An article in Elheraldo.hn reports that the price of cement now stands at 99.96 lempiras ($5.29) wholesale and 119 lempiras ($6.30) at hardware stores.
The most affected sectors are cement and concrete with a decrease in demand of 20% and 30% respectively.
According to Carlos Gonzalez, country director for Cemex (company which closed 5 concrete plants in Costa Rica), the reactivation of the Costa Rican economy would be achieved with three levers: State investment in infrastructure, increased credit to encourage domestic consumption and "encouragement of direct foreign investment through incentives or improvements to the free trade zone law."
In March 2009, the local price of steel fell by 33.8% and cement rose by 34.3% over the same month in 2008.
The decrease in the price of steel is in response to the decline in international prices, according to Jaime Jované, president of the Panamanian Chamber of Construction, to Prensa.com, who added: "The steel that arrived in the first quarter of this year came with lower prices."
A recent increase in cement prices is being blamed in Honduras for a 30 percent rise in the cost of housing construction.
The Honduran Construction Industry Chamber says construction of the average house now costs 1.3 million lempiras (US$69,000), up from 1 million lempiras (US$53,000).