Cement: FG cautions against panic buying

The federal government has cautioned Nigerians against panic buying and stockpiling of cement as it allayed fears that the commodity would be scarce.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, in a statement, blamed the rise in the price of cement on the reduction in production volumes in the second and third quarters of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, EndSARs protests and downtimes in some manufacturing plants.

He said these affected cash flow of major distributors along with the high cost of transportation as he also confirmed the recent price increase of cement.

Daily Trust had exclusively reported recently that cement price skyrocketed from about N2,700 in October to up to N3,400 and N5,000 in some parts of the country.

By January 2021, the product still sold for N3,400 in Abuja, and up to N4,000 in some states, our survey at the weekend shows.

The ministry’s scribe however said the Ministry has been working to engage stakeholders in the cement manufacturing sector to address the lingering situation.

He said there has been a massive build-up of demand from public works contractors as they are in a hurry to meet milestones and deadlines on projects across the country.

“We urge the public not to embark on panic buying and storage of the product as the current market price is temporary,” said Sani-Gwarzo.