Dangote Cement Plc has moved to close the demand gap and ensure the availability of cement products across the country. Africa’s leading cement manufacturer said it is going to increase production in order to boost supply across the country.
This disclosure was made by the new Group Chief Sales and Marketing Director of Dangote Cement, Mr Rabiu Umar, in a statement issued on Tuesday, May 18, 2021.
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Umar pointed out that the renewed commitment became necessary as a result of the need to meet the current surge in the demand for cement products in Nigeria.
He noted that the global increase in demand for cement is a fallout of the Covid-19 crisis adding that Nigeria had moved from importing cement to becoming an exporter of the product.
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What Dangote Cement Director is saying
Umar in his statement said, “Nigeria is no exception as a combination of monetary policy changes and low returns from the capital market has resulted in a significant increase in construction activity.
“We got into COVID-19 last year and immediately after that there is a surge in demand and this is not particular to Nigeria alone. A couple of countries across the world are also experiencing the same; Mexico, South East Asia among others.’’
He stated that the company was building up more capacity as it recently invested in a new line that had been completed in its Obajana plant, with the line only waiting for power to commence operations.
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He said, “we have a new plant in Okpella in Edo state that is also going to start operation very soon. For the last couple of years one of our plants in Gboko, Benue state has not worked; we have re-started the plant all in a bid to make sure that there is enough production.
We have also increased the capacity of our Obajana plant and very soon, I am sure the market will be flooded with enough products. You also need to note that other operators are also increasing their capacity. In every business, what drives the price is the demand and supply.
As a business, we have not increased our price up until this point. So, what has happened in price increment in the cement products are forces of demand and supply.”
He explained that though the company has direct control over its ex-factory prices, it cannot control the ultimate price of cement when it gets to the market.
He emphasized that the company was out to ensure that it increased the supply of the product in the market and noted that the company would bring in 2,000 new trucks to ease distribution bottlenecks adding that it will lead to additional thousands of direct jobs in the country; apart from both direct and indirect jobs the plants will also create.
In case you missed it
It can be recalled that in April, Dangote cement frowned at intentional misinformation or demarketing, allegedly sponsored by some individuals, that it sells its cement at higher prices in Nigeria relative to other African countries at the expense of Nigerians.
They described the allegation as false, misleading, and unfounded, urging the media to conduct independent investigations on the price of cement across the West African coast.