Cement producers have been urged by the Federal Government, through the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, to reduce the price of the product to N7,000 per 50 kg bag or face reporting to President Bola Tinubu.
He gave an explanation for his request, emphasising that efforts were underway to repair the nation’s main roadways and that the currency rate had steadied while petrol prices were also skyrocketing. He claims that the current exchange rate is N1,400 to the dollar and calls on cement producers to reduce the cost of their goods.
According to the Minister, because of the high cost of cement, contractors have expressed a desire to switch back to asphalt while building roads.
The Minister questioned why the product was still being sold for N9,500 per 50kg bag while cement producers increased the price to N7,500 when the exchange rate was N2,000 to the dollar. He threatened to formally report them to the President unless they lowered the price within seven days.
The Chinese company Huaxin Cement Company, which is apparently interested in purchasing Holcim’s 83% investment in Lafarge Africa, valued 100% of the company’s shares at $1.6 billion, according to a recent article available to BrandSpur business and economy news desk. To purchase Holcim’s interest in Lafarge Africa, the group is expected to pay $838.8 million.
Additionally, it calculated Lafarge Africa’s enterprise value to be between $1.06 billion and $1.59 billion. The firm’s filing on the Hong Kong Exchange revealed the valuation. Based on Lafarge’s 10.6 million-ton yearly production capacity, the valuation reportedly estimates cement prices in Nigeria to be between $100 and $150 per tonne.
The acquisition, according to Lafarge Africa, is in line with Huaxin’s foreign expansion strategy, which emphasises exploiting its knowledge of industrial technologies and production chain integration to spur growth.
