- CBN urges manufacturers to crash prices
President Muhammadu Buhari has commissioned a 3 million metric tons (MT) Line 4 cement factory belonging to the BUA cement group in Sokoto yesterday.
President Buhari in his remark said the commissioning indicates that progress is being made in all parts of the country.
He said: “BUA has shown that they believe in Nigeria and its potentials. They have contributed in making Nigeria self-sufficient in cement and with additional capacity for export.”
He said the country remains prepared for serious investors that want to take advantage of the huge resources of the country.
He called on entrepreneurs to emulate what BUA has done adding that private sector must collaborate to achieve the aim of nation building.
BUA Cement capacity to hit 17m tons in 2023
The Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu said: “A little over four and half years ago, shortly after the commissioning of BUA’s first greenfield cement complex – the 3 million MT per annum BUA Cement Obu Line 1 by His Excellency, the vice president, we continued our audacious yet structured expansion programme to meet the ever-growing demand for cement in Nigeria with regional exports also in focus.
“We had a vision to support your government’s infrastructure agenda by ensuring we use locally available raw materials to produce cement here in Nigeria.”
He said in the past six years, the group has completed 4 plants – two in Obu, Edo State and two in Sokoto (of which the Sokoto line 4 is the fourth) with BUA’s total production capacity now standing at 11m ton with the completion of this plant.
Rabiu said: “Next year, we intend to complete the construction of two new plants of 3 million MT each for which construction is ongoing – one in Edo and the other here in Sokoto. We expect these plants to be completed next year which will bring our total production capacity to 17m MT.
“We look forward to Your Excellency coming to commission them by the first quarter of 2023, Insha Allah.”
He said BUA will continue to invest more in the cement industry until Nigeria is self-sufficient and cement is made available, accessible, and affordable for all Nigerians.
“From a job creation and economic standpoint, the Sokoto plant continues to be the largest private sector employer of labour in the North-Western part of Nigeria.
“Also, by adding value to resources mined in Nigeria, Nigeria is being saved billions of US dollars in foreign exchange that would have been spent on importation, whilst also ensuring product availability. In fact, 95% of all the raw materials used in our cement manufacturing process are sourced locally.”
Rabiu further disclosed that the group has a diversified energy sources by introducing greener alternatives – in this case, LNG – to power the kiln and 48 megawatts power plant.
“Our power plants are now running on 100% LNG leading to reduced carbon emissions. This is the first of its kind at any cement factory in Nigeria.”
The Managing Director of BUA cement, Engr Yusuf Binji said the journey of the Sokoto cement plant started 58 years ago. The first line was for 100,000 MT.
The Second line came on stream in 1985 and commissioned by then head of state, Muhammadu Buhari.
With acquisition in 2010, BUA started expansion. The production line 4 has an installed capacity of 3 million MT per annum.
He said the plant can produce 360 trailers of cement every day of the year, as he noted that the raw material reserve can last for the next 40 years.
Alhaji Lawal Bello, Chairman, Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria in his remark noted that from 5m tons in 1989 to over 50m tons today, the current capacity is a clear indication of growth.
CBN urges reduction in cement price
In his remark at the commissioning, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele appealed to manufacturers in the construction sector to take urgent action in bringing down the price of building materials in Nigeria.
Daily Trust findings revealed that from December 2020 to January 2022, cement prices rose by 44 per cent impacting prices of other products like blocks, rings and others, which utilize cement as a major ingredient for production.
Within the past six months, the price of cement rose from N3,200 to N4,600. Emefiele said there has recently been calls by construction companies, urging cement and steel manufacturers to do something about the skyrocketing prices of these two essential items in the construction sector.
He said the Buhari administration restricted 43 import items towards promoting local capacity. “One of the restricted items was cement. In making this decision, we were aware that the key raw material required for the production of cement is limestone, which is readily available across the country.
“Following implementation of this new directive, I am pleased to note that the production capacity of the cement industry in Nigeria has doubled from 30m tons in 2014 to about 60m tons in 2021.”
