Posts
LAGOS—LEADING cement manufacturer, Dangote
Cement Plc, weekend, announced drastic reduction of
the prices of its cement.
The new price regime announced by the Group
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, GMD/CEO,
of Dangote Cement, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, pegged the
Dangote 32.5 cement grade at N1,000 per 50 kg bag,
while the higher 42.5 grade would sell for N1,150 per
bag.
A statement by the company at the end of a
management meeting said, however, that the new prices
were exclusive of the Value Added Tax, VAT, representing
about 40 per cent discount on the prevailing market
price of the product currently sold for N1,700 irrespective
of the grade, across the country.
Edwin said the move was in line with the company’s
commitment to the nation’s dire need for the
development of infrastructure and to boost the federal
and state government’s ongoing effort to reduce the near
20 million housing deficit in Africa’s largest economy.
He said, “we recognize the need for an increased rapid
response to the huge infrastructure and housing deficit
in the country, and one of the ways of addressing the
issue is bringing the price of building materials down
to much more affordable levels especially cement which
is within our control as part of our contribution to the
transformation agenda of the Goodluck Jonathan
administration and the attainment of key milestones
in the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs.
“Since the commencement of the implementation of the
backward integration policy for cement in the country
over 12 years ago, the local production capacity of the
product rose from less than three million metric tonnes
per annum to about 38 million metric tonnes per
annum. During the more than 12-year period of the
backward integration policy, nearly $20 billion has
been directly and indirectly injected into the Nigerian
cement industry with Dangote Cement Plc accounting
for 60 per cent of that spend.”
The GMD/CEO added that Dangote Cement Plc would
continue to ensure alignment of its corporate social
responsibility with its strategic business initiatives and
will continue to evaluate its pricing regime in Nigeria’s
best interest.
Meanwhile, the timing of the initiative has confounded
industry watchers, who say that from experience, the
cement market is on the verge of entering the accelerated
demand phase as the raining season is tapering and
the dry season which provides the opportunity for
increased construction and building activities is setting
in.
Vanguard
No comments