In a move that will raise the stakes in the rapidly evolving Nigerian cement market, leading cement manufacturer, Dangote Ce­ment Plc, has announced huge cuts in the price of the essential product.
The new price regime an­nounced by the Group Manag­ing Director of Dangote Cement, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, pegged the Dangote 32.5 cement grade at N1,000 per 50 kg bag, while the higher 42.5 grade is to sell for N1,150 per bag.
The new prices exclusive of the Value Added Tax (VAT), represents about 40 per cent dis­count on the prevailing market price of the product which is currently sold for N1,700 irre­spective of the grade, across the country.
Edwin said the move was in line with the company’s com­mitment to the nation’s need for the development of infrastructure and to boost the federal and state governments’ ongoing efforts to reduce the near 20 million hous­ing deficit in Africa’s largest economy.
“We recognize the need for an increase rapid response to the huge infrastructure and housing deficit in the country, and one of the ways of addressing the issue is bringing the price of building materials down to much more affordable levels, especially ce­ment, which is within our own control as part of our contribu­tion to the transformation agenda of the President Goodluck Jona­than administration and the at­tainment of key milestones in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he said.
Since the commencement of the implementation of the back­ward integration policy for ce­ment in the country over 12 years ago, the local production capac­ity of the product rose from less than three million metric tonnes per annum to about 38 million metric tonnes per annum.

Dangote slashes cement price to N1,000 per bag