The retail price of cement in Nigeria has witnessed a significant increase, soaring from N5,000 in December 2023 to between N6,500 and N7,000 per bag as of February 9, 2024, depending on the region. Investigations reveal that members of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CMAN) have hiked prices by over N1,000 per bag, leading to a surge in retail prices across the country.<\/p>\n
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In Lagos and the Southwest region, prices have escalated from N5,000 to N6,200 or higher, while in the Southeast and Abuja, prices have surged to N6,500 or more. This upward trend in cement prices has subsequently impacted the prices of sandcrete blocks, with block makers raising prices from N450 to N500 for a six-inch block and from N550 to N600 for a nine-inch block.<\/p>\n
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Moreover, the cost of ready-mix concrete has also increased, along with the anticipated rise in the cost of in-situ concrete production. These price hikes are expected to exacerbate economic challenges, leading to increased prices for new homes, rents, and maintenance costs.<\/p>\n
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The Nigerian cement industry, dominated by key players such as Dangote Cement Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, and BUA Group, faces infrastructure challenges contributing to the price surge. Inadequate transportation networks and an unreliable power supply compound operational costs for cement producers.<\/p>\n
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A report by Cardinal Stone titled \u2018Nigeria Cement Rebounding from a Tumultuous Year\u2019 predicts continued high cement prices in 2024. Despite challenges faced in 2023, including currency devaluation and heavy rainfalls, the sector is projected to rebound based on increased infrastructure spending, the establishment of the Infrastructure Support Fund (ISF), and the active implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).<\/p>\n
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However, the report warns that cement prices will likely remain high due to operational costs, forex market volatility, and inflation. Mr. Adebayo Adeleke, Group Executive Chairman of Lancelot Group, emphasizes the critical role of cement in Nigeria’s infrastructure development, noting the widening gap between demand and local production, which continues to drive price increases.<\/p>\n
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The retail price of cement in Nigeria has witnessed a significant increase, soaring from N5,000 in December 2023 to between N6,500 and N7,000 per bag as of February 9, 2024, depending on the region. Investigations reveal that members of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CMAN) have hiked prices by over N1,000 per bag, leading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20045"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20046,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20045\/revisions\/20046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}