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The Chairman of BUA Cement Plc, AbdulSamad Rabiu, has expressed optimism that the completion company’s two new factories by the end of the year would trigger a reduction in the price of cement.
Rabiu said this during an interview with journalists held on the sidelines of the company’s seventh Annual General Meeting on Thursday in Abuja.
He disclosed that the two factories are the Obu Line 3 and the Sokoto Line 5, which would give the company a combined capacity of six million tonnes.
The BUA chairman also said that the company would support the efforts of the Federal Government to drive down the price of cement in the country.
The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, last week said that he would dialogue with cement manufacturers to reduce the prices of their products.
The minister, who spoke on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, had said contractors had complained over the high cost of cement in the country and made claims that importing the product would be cheaper.
“I’m going to be running figures with them (cement manufacturers) to check the cost of cement if we import it and the cost they are giving us here,” he said.
According to the BUA Cement chairman, the company is currently increasing its production capacity, noting that once that is achieved by the end of this year, it will boost the availability of the product and drive down prices.
Rabiu said, “I understand that the minister is quite concerned, that the price of cement is high at almost N5,000 per tonne. I appreciate where the government is coming from and the frustration from all the issues in the country. The price of cement at N5,000 is not high. If we look at the rate of the US dollar today, to import cement will be at N5,000. The cement cost, insurance and freight to any port in Nigeria will be in the region of about $100 a tonne. So, at $100 per tonne, if you take N800 to $1, then it will be N4,000 per bag. Then the port cost, and transportation from the port.
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