Nigeria to end cement importation in 2017

With a national productive capacity now at over 28 million metric tons (MMTs), which far outstrips national demand of over 20MMTs, Nigeria looks set to effectively end cement importation by 2017, according to information from one of the major producers.

This is coming on the back of ongoing strong national productive capacity expansion by virtually all of the major cement producer’s in-country.

Major producers with ongoing production expansions look to realise their projects in 2016. For instance, Dangote Cement, unarguably the biggest cement manufacturer, would increase its production to about 50MMT; Lafarge Wapco would go to 15MMT; UniCem’s second production line being built at the cost of over N84 million would increase its production to at least 5MMT by 2016.

Olivier Lenoir, managing director of UniCem, told BusinessDay recently in an interview that with the level of productive capacity expansions by the major manufacturers in-country, the country would effectively end cement importation by 2017.

Lenoir noted that UniCem was the third largest cement producer in the country, and operated with its modern state-of-the-art production facilities under strict quality assurance control and regulations, and dispatched an average of 220 trucks of cement to the open market daily, especially in the South-South and South-East zones, where the company enjoyed a greater market share.

The UniCem boss informed that the company’s new plant, which construction had already started, when operational would inject additional 50 million bags of cement into the nation’s economy, thereby shoring up its annual production to 100 million bags.

“Importation of cement would be a thing of the past by 2017,” he said, adding that the company at the moment had the capacity to meet the cement demand of Nigerians.

 

BEN EGUZOZIE