The joint committee of the House of Representatives investigating the continuous increase in the price of cement in the country has asked major producers in the industry to submit documents on cost production to justify the price of cement in the market.
The committee resolved to visit the production plants of the companies after going through their books to ascertain the cost of production and determine a fair cement price for all Nigerians.
The Chairman of the joint committee, Jonathan Gaza, made the demand on Friday at a public hearing while quizzing the Dangote Cement Company and the Lafarge Africa Plc in Abuja.
He said the committee was interested in the cost of production from 2020 to date that justified the current price of cement over N10,000 in most parts of the country.
He said that the companies should give their average daily consumption of coal, gas, gypsum, limestone, clay, laterite and the average daily production of cement from 2020 to date.
Gaza said that the companies should provide details of all imported components for the production of cement and their prices from
2020 to date, provide details of local components for the production of cement and their prices in naira and dollars if any in the period under review.
He said that the companies should give their average daily consumption of coal, gas, gypsum, limestone, clay, laterite and the average daily production of cement from 2020 to date.
He said that the companies should provide a summary of the monthly prices and quantity of cement produced from 2019 to date as well as their audited accounts of the company, bills of ladan, and duties paid to customs within the period under review.
Gaza also said that the companies should provide details of tax waivers and other incentives enjoyed plus gas and explosives contract details.
Another member of the committee Dabo Ismail (APC-Bauchi State) said Dangote Cement Company had continued to make increasing profits in the country despite being able to source most of its raw materials locally.
He said the company in 2022 declared a profit of N524billion, N553billion in 2023, and had so far made N166.4billion in 2024.
He said therefore, that there is no reason why the price of cement will keep going up in the market to the detriment of Nigerians while producers are smiling to the banks.
However, the Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement Company, Arvind Pathack, said that 95 percent of production costs are either imported or linked to forex.
He explained that there had been between 100 to 333 percent increase in the price of major cement input materials like gas, AGO, gypsum, imported coal, spare parts, new trucks, tyres, petrol among others.
Pathack said that the company is made to pay in dollars for some of its contracts to access gas and explosives.
According to him, logistics issues such as the deplorable state of key roads, create several issues including a longer time to deliver, an increase in truck maintenance and delivery costs.
The GMD explained that the lack of sufficient forex to settle trade obligations had resulted in huge forex losses to the tune of N150 billion per annum while paying 30 percent interest rate on loans.
He said between May 2023 and June 2024, there have been over 220 percent devaluation of the Naira among many other challenges like insecurity and public power supply.
Pathack said that the cost of building materials like reinforcement, granite, and aluminum windows had increased by 177 percent to 283 percent while cement had increased by 166 percent between 2023 and 2024.
He said that cement was being sold at an average cost of 7,200 saying that any price over N10,000 was the handwork of retailers which the company had no control over.
According to him, when converted to dollars a bag of cement is said at 7.8 dollars in Benin, $6.6 in Togo, $7.8 in Ghana, and $4.4 in India while that of Nigeria is $4.43, making it one of the cheapest in Africa.
The committee admonished the companies to look into their policy and operations to reduce the price of cement in the country.
In an interview with newsmen, the chairman of the committee expressed hope that the engagement would lead to a reduction in the price of cement.
He blamed the high price of the commodity on the inaction of the Federal Competition Consumer Protection Commission.
In response, Gaza said that as an agency responsible for the protection of consumers, they failed to protect Nigerians against middlemen who sold the commodity for as high as N14,000 after purchasing it for N6,000 at the factory.
“We are extremely hopeful that this engagement will lead to a reduction in the price of cement.
“FCCPC has slept on their functions so far, their inactivity and none responsiveness to price is what has put Nigeria where we are today,” he said.
