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.
source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/dangote-slashes-cement-price-n1000-per-bag/#sthash.VGyLPyuF.dpuf