Nigerian cement prices
The price of cement soared by above 80 per cent last week with a 50 kilogramme bag of the commodity selling for as much as N2000 (US$17 per 50kg bag) at many depots in Lagos. Two weeks ago, a bag sold for N1300. This is the highest price a bag of cement has sold in recent years.
Construction companies have blamed the sudden rise in price for scarcity of the commodity in the market, even as others attributed it to the desire of cement cabals to make quick profit.
The astronomical increase in price is coming just a month after the Federal Government lifted ban imposed earlier on the importation of bagged cement.
The situation has put many construction work on hold as the increase has disrupted earlier projection. Speaking on the sudden jump in price ,Managing Director of Reo Habilis Construction Company Limited, Mr Kunle Awobodu who also doubles as the Chairman of Lagos State Chapter of the Nigeria Institute of Building(NIOB) said that the sudden increase has proved that the local manufacturers of cement could not meet up with the demand. Awobodu said that Federal Government should allow more people to go into the importation of the product as a way of complementing local production.
Published under Cement News
