FG Blames #EndSARS Protest For Increase In Cement Price

…Warns Against Panic Buying

The Federal Government on Wednesday blamed the persistent increase in the price of cement on the reduction in production volumes in the second and third quarters of 2020 caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, End-SARs protests as well as downtimes in some manufacturing plants.

It said 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.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo said this on Wednesday in Abuja.

THE WHISTLER investigation showed 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 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

But speaking on the development, Sani-Gwarzo 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.

The Permanent Secretary further noted that there has been a massive build-up of demand from public works contractors as they are in a hurry to meet milestones and deadlines on projects across the country.

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.”

He assured the general public that government will continue to be on the alert to its responsibility of ensuring goods and services are available at reasonable prices.

He stated that the ministry will continue to monitor the situation while encouraging them to support market intelligence efforts by making relevant information available on the product.