BUA Cement Plc says with the commissioning of two new plants by the end of year 2023, prices of cement will be reduced by 40 percent.
The company also said it is adding the new plants to support the government efforts to bringing down the price of cement in the country.
Chairman of BUA Group, AbdulSamad Rabiu, made these known on Friday to State House Correspondents after meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to the BUA Chairman, the Nigerian leader, President Tinubu has agreed to commission the plants, later in December or early January next year.
“Let me thank His Excellency Mr. President for graciously receiving me today. I came to intimate His Excellency on the affairs of our cement business. We have two new lines of three million tons each that will be commissioned by the end of the year.
“And by the way, his Excellency has agreed to come and commission the plants, sometime in December or early January next year.
“So, I explained to him that we want to support the efforts of the government in bringing down the price of cement,” he added.
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Rabiu further stated that the new plants will increase the company’s production capacity to 17 million metric tons annually, emphasizing that the company could only do this because it develops locally.
“By the time these lines are commissioned, he said BUA Cement will be producing about 17 million tons per annum.
“And with that, we intend to bring down the price of cement from its current level of N5,000 or N5,500 per bag to maybe N3,000 to N3,500 per bag,” he said.
“So, I came to intimate his Excellency and also to explain to him the efforts we are making in trying to support again the efforts of the government in bringing down the price of cement with these six million tons that we are commissioning by the end of the year,” he said.
Speaking on local production of cement, the BUA Chairman disclosed that the company could only achieve its price reduction target following its commitment to the use of 80percent raw materials in the production of itscement
“And we can only do that because we’re producing cement locally, 80 per cent of the raw materials that we are using to produce cement are in Nigeria.
“It is mainly limestone and Gypsum and of course, energy is part of it and will have gas in Nigeria. We want to support the government efforts in ensuring that the price of these commodities is brought down,” he added.
“What we are going to do by the time we commission these two lines is to announce to Nigerians that the price of cement is going to come down.
“Mr. president was very happy and he assured me that we will get all the support that is required from him and his government to see that price of commodities, not only cement but other commodities as well are brought down so that Nigerians will get the benefits of what Mr. president is doing,” the BUA Chairman added.
