BUA Cement Plc, one of Nigeria’s largest cement producers, has announced plans to reduce the price of cement by up to 40%. The company’s chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, disclosed this to journalists after an audience with President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.
Rabiu said that the price reduction is part of the company’s contribution to supporting the government’s efforts to stabilize the prices of essential commodities. However, he said that the price reduction would only take effect after the opening of two new plants with a combined operating capacity of 6 million tons, which are scheduled to be commissioned at the end of the year.
“We have two new lines of 3 million tons each that we will be commissioning by the end of the year,” Rabiu said. “So I explained to him that we want to support the efforts of the government in bringing down the cost of cement, by the time these lines are commissioned BUA Cement will be producing about 17 million tons per annum and with that, we intend to bring down the cost of cement from its current level of N5,000 or N5,500 per bag to maybe N3,000 to N3,500 per bag.”
Rabiu said that the company is able to do this because it produces cement locally. He said that 80% of the raw materials used to produce cement in Nigeria are available locally, including limestone, gypsum, and gas.
“We want to support the government, we want to support their efforts in ensuring that the prices of these commodities are brought down incidentally,” he said.
He also revealed that the two new plants to be inaugurated by Tinubu later in 2023 would increase the company’s production capacity to 17 million metric tons.
The price reduction announced by BUA Cement Plc is welcome news for Nigerians, who have been struggling with high prices for essential commodities in recent months. The price of cement is particularly important, as it is a key building material used in construction. It is hoped that the price reduction will help to boost the construction industry and create jobs.
