By David Torough, Abuja

Cement manufacturers have said a sharp rise in their operating costs is responsible for the increase in the price of the commodity.

They agreed to bring down the price between N9,000 and N15,000 to between N7,000 and N8,000 per 50kg depending on the location nationwide.

It said that prices could be N7,000 in some parts of the country owing to closeness to the supply of the product.

This was part of the agreement between the Federal Government and the cement manufacturers as well as its association.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi led the meeting which had the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite in attendance, saying they would intervene on issues of gas and bad roads among other issues affecting the rising price of the critical material in the construction sector.

The cement manufacturers including Dangote Cement Plc, BUA Cement Plc and Larfarge Cement Plc and other stakeholders issued a communique after meeting with the ministers.

Umahi said smuggling, bad roads, high energy costs, and the forex crisis caused the high price but stressed that manufacturers had expressed their readiness to bring down the prices in the future.

He said, “The cement manufacturers have noted to the government that the present high cost of cement in the market is very much abnormal in some locations nationwide.

“Ideally, they noted that cement price, and retail price to a consumer should not cost more than between N7,000 and N8,000 per 50kg bag.

“Therefore, the government and the cement manufacturers, which are Dangote Plc, BUA Plc, and Lafarge Plc have agreed to have their cement price nationwide between N7,000 and N8,000 per 50kg pack of cement, depending on the location which means that this price depends on the locations. 

“Going forward, the government has advised manufacturers to set up a price monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance with the prices that are set today.”

The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment lamented the high rate of smuggling to the neighbouring countries.

She noted, this was responsible for the scarcity and hike in the price of the produce and assured that the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu is committed to tackling the menace.

Uzoka-Anite said, “The amount we recommended is N7000 to N8000 but we have other factors. This is the first time that manufacturers are saying they will go and manage compliance in this distribution network.

“We have issues of smuggling not just for cement, but even food across the borders and this has led to scarcity. We have engaged with the NSA who has committed to tackling this. We’ll hear from the NSA soon on this’’.

The manufacturers expressed readiness to bring down the price as soon as the Federal Government interventions are fulfilled.

The Executive Director, BUA Group, Kabir Rabiu admitted that the high cost of cement in neighboring countries made smuggling lucrative, saying that the cost of cement in Chad and Cameron is about N15,000 in the countries’ monetary value.

Rabiu assured that his company would bring in 6 million tonnes of cement into the market to crash the price.

He said, “The high cost of cement in neighboring countries is making smuggling lucrative.

“The cost of cement in Chad and Cameron is about N15,000 equivalent there, and distributors in the North East instead smuggle products there.

“They do that not through official channels and the government is not benefiting from their export. Unless that is sorted, we’ll continue to have pressure from those markets.

“We have promised the minister that we are going to bring in 6m tonnes of cement into the market and that is going to crash the price. There is a big disparity between demand and supply in Nigeria. I think some plants have issues that have reduced production.

“We are at the peak of cement demand but supply seems less so there is going to be a crisis and that is why we are working hard to bring more products to the market to reduce the pressure of demand and supply in the market.”Government expects the agreed price to drop after securing government’s interventions on the challenges of the manufacturers on gas, import duty, smuggling, and better road network.