FG Pins Rising Cement Prices on #EndSARS Protest

FG Pins Rising Cement Prices on #EndSARS Protest.

According to the Federal Government, last year’s #ENDSARS protests and the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted production flows were responsible for the skyrocketing of cement price in Nigeria.

Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, said this at an event in Abuja adding that the development affected the volume of stock levels in the supply chain due to reduction of cash flow of major distributors and high cost of transportation.

Market surveys show that prices of cement and associated products, such as blocks, in many states, including Abuja, have continued to rise.

For instance, the price of a 50-kilogramme bag now goes for N3, 700 in Lagos and Cross River states; N4,000 in Enugu and Imo states; Rivers state N4,300; Abuja N3,700; Kano and Oyo states N3,500. Until the last quarter of the year, cement was sold for between N2400 and N2500 in many of the states.

While nine-inch block in Enugu is sold at N200, and a six-inch block goes for N160 per block, in Abuja, nine inches block sells for N180 and six inches for N160 as against the previous N150 and N130 respectively.

Sani-Gwarzo, speaking on the development, cautioned the general public against panic purchase of cement due to the recent price increase of products in some parts of the country.

He said the Ministry has been working assiduously to engage all the relevant stakeholders in the cement manufacturing sector to address the lingering situation.

To address the situation, he said the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, would be engaging with relevant stakeholders in the cement industry with a view to meeting the increased demand of the commodity.

He added: “We urge the public not to embark on panic buying and storage of the product as the current market price is temporary.”