Dangote shuts down four million MT cement plant

The management of Dangote Cement Plc has concluded arrangements to temporarily close down its four million metric tons per annum’s Gboko Plant, as a result of glut in the cement market.

The Group Head, Corporate Communication, Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina who confirmed this in Lagos, said the move was necessitated by the glut in the market arising from the success being recorded in local production.

He said the situation is compounded by the continued importation of subsidised cement into the country, adding that the production figure for the first eleven months of the year showed increased local production level with supply now surpassing demand.

Chiejina said total supply of cement to the market as at the end of November, when compared with the same period of last year, has showed a record increase of 11.4 per cent.

He said it was therefore disheartening to note that despite the glut in the local cement market, cement is still being imported, a development, Chiejina said, is at varience with government’s backward integration policy.

Giving the reason for the choice of BCC for a temporary shutdown, the Dangote Group’s image maker, said: “With the dumping of subsidised imported cement in the South Eastern market, there is no way our Gboko Cement plant can survive. In fact, staff have been put on forced leave pending when the situation improves.

“Inventory of finished products is beginning to build up at our plants. Don’t forget that projects from our investments of about N280 billion in additional capacity are already on stream, with lines 3 and 4 at Ibese and line 4 at Obajana, coming on stream early this year.”

Chiejina said other manufacturers are also experiencing the same problem of low sale and high inventory, and called for an urgent solutions to the development.

Besides, he advised that government should vigorously implement the provisions of the cement backward integration policy that are needed to protect local manufacturers from dumping.

He said part of the solution lies in government consigering a total ban on the importation of cement in view of the fact that local production now surpasses demand, or in the alternative, increase duty and levy on imported cement.

The Nation market survey revealed that a 50kg bag of cement sells for N1,850