He explained that the demand for cement has risen globally as a fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. Nigeria, according to him, is no exception as a combination of monetary policy changes and low returns from the capital market has resulted in a significant increase in construction activity.
“We got into COVID-19 last year and immediately after COVID-19, there is a surge in demand and this is not particular to Nigeria alone, a couple of countries across the world are also experiencing the same; Mexico, South East Asia, among others,” Umar said.
He noted that Dangote Cement is building up more capacity as it recently invested in a new line that has been completed in Obajana Plant and the line is waiting for the power plant for it to commence operation.
Commenting further on capacity building, Rabiu said: “… we have a new plant in Okpella in Edo state, that is also going to start operation very soon. For the last couple of years one of our plants in Gboko, Benue state has not worked; we have re-started the plant all in a bid to make sure that there is enough production. We have also increased the capacity of our Obajana Plant and very soon, I am sure the market will be flooded with enough products. You also need to note that other operators are also increasing their capacity.”
He explained that, “in every business, what drives the price is the demand and supply. Now as a business we have not increased our price up until this point. So therefore, what has happened in price increment in the cement products are forces of demand and supply.”
