BY GODWIN IJEDIOGOR
CEMENT producers in Nigeria have expressed readiness to support the federal government in reducing the price of the product within 30 days as to address the rising cost
Chairman of the Cement Producers’ Association of Nigeria (CEPAN), Prince David Iweta, said the association had anticipated the current progression and had alerted the federal government about the ramifications and probable outcomes of assigning the responsibility of producing and providing for the cement requirements of over 200 million individuals to a select group with privileges.
“What we are seeing today is a case of demand clearly outweighing supply, and we in the association knew it would come to this, because there is no way the few players in the industry can meet the cement needs of Nigerians.
“If you remember, the association had earlier warned, even when the commodity was still as low as N3,000, that in the nearest future, it would sell for as high as N9,000 if certain steps were not taken.
“Why we were saying that then was to ginger the government to take action and avert this mess that we are all in today,” he said.
A bag of cement currently sells between N10,000 and N15,000, depending on location.
