No plan to increase prices of cement – BUA

The management of BUA Cement Plc on Sunday said that it has no plan to increase the price of cement.

The company said in a statement that it “has not and does not intend to increase its price of cement now or in the near future, barring any material, unforeseen circumstances.”

The statement said that in the past two days, BUA Cement has been inundated with calls seeking clarification as to whether it is part of a purported price increase of 300Naira per bag.

“Whilst we are aware that demand for cement is high with current supply levels not sufficient to meet this increased demand, we do not believe the solution lies in an increase in ex-factory prices of cement – especially not at this period,” the statement said.

“It is our strong conviction that any increase in prices of major commodities at a time like this is not right – whilst Nigerians are still trying to recover from the economic consequences brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic – especially for a product for which all raw materials are locally sourced.”

BUA Cement noted that it is very much aware of the fact that there is a huge difference in the ex-factory prices of cement and the retail market prices of cement, which is mostly because of retailers taking advantage of increased cement demand to make maximum profits.

It explained that any increase in ex-factory prices will be inadvertently passed down to the consumers.

“We stand by our previous statements that the timing is not right for any increase in the price of major commodities whilst we work towards ramping up our production capacity to ensure that commodities like cement remain accessible and affordable for our consumers,” the company said.

“BUA Cement therefore wishes to restate that it is not a part of the purported increase in cement prices and we once again enjoin and appeal to our distributors, who have been advised, to ensure there are no further arbitrary increases or excessive profit taking in the retail price of cement.”