TheCable

Abdul Samad Rabiu, chairman of BUA Group, says his company intends to reduce the price of cement in the country.

The BUA founder said the planned reduction is part of efforts to support the federal government’s quest to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.

“I came to intimate His Excellency on the affairs of our cement business,” he said on Friday while addressing State House correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu.

“We have two new lines of three million tonnes each that we will be commissioned by the end of the year.

“So I came to intimate His Excellency and also to explain to him the efforts we’re making in trying to support again the efforts of the government in bringing down the price of cement.

“With this six million tonnes that are commissioning by the end of the year. And by the way, His Excellency has agreed to come and commission the plants, sometime in December or early January next year.

“So I explained to him and we want to support the efforts of the government in bringing down the price of cement.”

Rabiu said the new plants will increase BUA Cement’s total capacity to 17 million metric tonnes.

“By the time these lines are commissioned, BUA Cement will be producing about 17 million tonnes per annum,” he said.

“And with that, we intend to bring down the price of cement from its current level of N5,000 or N5,500 per bag to maybe N3,000 to N3,500 per bag.

“And we can only do that because we’re producing cement locally — 80% of the raw materials that we’re using to produce cement are in Nigeria. We want to support the government efforts in ensuring that the price of these commodities are brought down.”

The BUA Group founder said he will announce the reduction of cement prices when the plants are commissioned.