MANUFACTURERS PREDICT PRICE CRASH OF CEMENT

The Cement Manufacturers

Association of Nigeria (CMAN) on

Thursday said that the price of

cement would go down before the

middle of June.

Joseph Makanju, chairman of CMAN,

gave the assurance at a press

briefing in Lagos, adding that the

association was finetuning major

processes that would lead to the

price reduction.

Mr Makanju said that the association

would ensure that it met the desire

of President Goodluck Jonathan on

the reduction in price of cement.

He listed the measures that would

bring about the price reduction to

include increase in production and

flooding of the market with the

product as soon as possible.

"We, on our part have taken
measures to import more cement
into the country. One of CMAN
member firm, Dangote Group, has
imported 500 trucks to reduce the
haulage challenges being faced by
dealers. We have to discuss with the
dealers because they have a major
role to play in cement pricing.
"The major challenge is the role of
the middlemen that increase the
price excessively from the factory
price of between N1, 550 and N1, 700
to the current market price. As at
today, the factory price is still
between N1, 500 and N1, 550 per bag
of cement. This is because an
extensive analysis of the operational
and market performances of the
product did not show any significant
increase in demand.
"The findings was carried out in four
plants which include Dangote
Cement Plc, Askaka Cemnet plant,
Lafarge Wapco Cement Plc, and one
other plant," he said.
Mr Makanju said that transporters
also capitalised on the hike in the
price of diesel to increase the cost of
haulage astronomically.
He revealed that the backward
integration policy introduced by the
Federal Government in 2002 was
working because it had attracted
huge investments to the sector.
According to him, Nigeria was barely
producing two million tonnes of
cement in 2002 before the
introduction of the policy, but it now
produces about 17.5 million tonnes
annually.
"The government and the entire
public should be patient with the
price fluctuations because the
increase is sometimes due to the law
of demand and supply," he said.
Mr Makoju said that the sector could
be used to diversify the nation's
economic base if government
sustained its policy in the sector.
"The country has adequate raw
materials to produce cement to
meet local consumption and for
export. Most of the manufacturers
have started construction of jetties
in preparation for exporting the
product," he said.