Cement manufacturers have agreed to bring down the price of the product to between N7,000 and N8,000 per 50kg from the sum of N10,000 depending on the location nationwide.
During a meeting initiated by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, and attended by his counterparts from the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, including Doris Uzoka-Anite, in Abuja on Monday, February 19, efforts were made to identify the underlying reasons for the abrupt increase in commodity prices.
The manufacturers present also expressed their readiness to willingly bring down the prices in future as soon as the federal government intervention are fulfilled.
BUA Industries also disclosed plans to bring 6 million tons of cement into the market to mitigate the surging prices.
The federal government has also declared its intention to encourage the introduction of six new manufacturers.
“The cement manufacturers and the Government noted that the current high price of cement is abnormal in some locations nationwide. Ideally, cement retail prices should not cost more than ₦7,000.00 to ₦8,000.00/ 50kg bag of cement,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Therefore, the three cement manufacturers: Dangote Cement Plc, BUA Cement Plc and Larfarge Africa Plc have agreed that cement cost will not be more than between ₦7,000.00 and ₦8,000.00/50kg bag depending on the location.
“Going forward, the government advised cement manufacturers to set up a price monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance, and manufacturers have willingly accepted to do so and to sanction any of her distributors or retailers found wanting.
“The 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. The meeting agreed to reconvene in 30 days to review progress made,” it added.
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