FG breaks Dangote, Lafarge monopoly on cement - Opens market for bulk importers

Gbola Subair, Abuja - 05.03.2008

"We are determined to break the monopoly of the big players in the cement industry, henceforth the government has decided to allow relatively unknown stakeholders to import bulk cement into the country.”

That was the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Charles Ugwu, addressing newsmen in his office on Tuesday in Abuja while announcing a new government policy on cement.

Mr. Ugwu, who disclosed that the Federal Government was worried about the escalating price of cement, disclosed that government had decided to take the bull by the horns by addressing once and for all, the problem of high price of cement in the country.

The minister said that price speculators were behind the recent escalating price of cement in the country, adding that this arose because of a little problem cement importers had with loading at the ports.

However, the minister said this could not have arisen had the country been producing enough cement. While local production stands at 6.5million tonnes, the minister said the demand for cement in the country at present ranges between 17 and 18 million tonnes.

Reiterating the government policy of encouraging local production of cement, Mr.Ugwu disclosed that the government had decided to fill the supply gap by opening the industry to new players who are end users of the product.

The government action, according to him, was to allow those stakeholders to import the quantity of the products they would be using and stop competing with ordinary cement users in the market.