Nigerian cement demand to rise 45%

Nigerian cement demand to rise 45%
01 November 2010


Demand for cement in Nigeria, sub- Saharan Africa’s second-biggest economy and the continent’s most populous nation, is expected to rise 45 per cent in 2010, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc said.

Output of the building material may increase 63 percent this year, while demand will surge to as much as 47.9 million metric tons a year by 2014, Lagos-based analysts including Tomi Ajai, Bunmi Njugo and Esili Eigbe wrote in an e-mailed report dated Oct. 27.

“Nigeria is one of the lowest cement-consuming countries in the world,” with 17.4Mt consumed in 2009, representing 116kg per capita.

Demand is being driven by a construction boom as the country, Africa’s top oil producer, embarks on the provision of houses, schools, roads and bridges for its 150 million people. Local demand for cement is expected to increase as government revenue climbs due to higher oil prices, Lagos-based Access Investments and Securities Ltd., a unit of Access Bank Plc, said in a research note in May.

Nigeria expects to attain self-sufficiency in the production of cement and become an exporter in 2013, when production is forecast to reach 22Mt, compared with the government’s projection of domestic demand at 20Mt, Commerce and Industry Minister Jubril Martins-Kuye said September 30.
Published under Cement News