Over the past three years, the price of cement has surged by 100%, hitting a new milestone of N7,000 amid escalating inflation in Nigeria.
Recent findings reveal that in March 2021, cement prices ranged between N3,300 and N3,500 in Lagos and Ogun States.
However, as of last week, prices have skyrocketed to between N6,500 and N7,000 in both states.
Devakumar Edwin, Dangote Cement’s Group Executive Director overseeing Strategy, Portfolio Development, and Capital Projects, attributed the high cost of cement to the global surge in demand caused by the COVID-19 crisis. He highlighted monetary policy changes and low returns from the capital market as factors contributing to increased construction activity in Nigeria. To meet local demands, exports from recently inaugurated export terminals were suspended, sacrificing dollar earnings.
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In 2022, the Block and Concrete Producers Association of Enugu State expressed concern over the continuous price hikes. Igwe Ukaegbu, President of the Oriental Block and Concrete Producers Association, lamented that rising cement prices were negatively impacting production output and income, urging government intervention by granting more licenses to industrialists for cement production.
By 2023, the Cement Producers Association of Nigeria warned that the Federal Government’s plan to introduce concrete roads would further escalate cement prices to N9,000 per bag from the current N5,000.
They urged the government to address the persistent price hikes by facilitating broader participation in the cement industry, emphasizing that Nigerians should not be paying more than N5,600 per bag.
