BEVERLY HILLS, December 23, (THEWILL) – In a bid to expand its operations and boost export activities, Nigeria’s foremost cement company, BUA Cement Plc, has signed an agreement with Sinoma CBMI of China for the construction of three new cement plants at a total cost of $1.05 billion.
Designed for 3 million tonnes each per annum, the new facilities are to be located in Edo, Sokoto and Adamawa states.
A statement from the company said the projects will be completed by the end of 2022.
“At 9 million tonnes combined capacity, this is the single largest contract ever awarded in the Nigerian Cement Industry for the construction of new cement plants at the same time and by a single company, in Nigeria,” Ortega Ogra, BUA’s spokesperson said.
The three new plants are in addition to BUA Cement’s already existing 6mmtpa plants in Edo State, 2mmtpa plants in Sokoto State and another 3mmtpa BUA Cement plant in Sokoto – which will be commissioned in Q2 2021.
Speaking at the ceremony held simultaneously at BUA HQ in Lagos and the CBMI HQ in China, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of BUA Cement, said the expansion decision was to transform the manufacturing industry and increase Nigeria’s cement production capacity , noting that “Nigeria and the surrounding region is still home to huge opportunities in construction, housing, infrastructure, and allied industries”.
According to Mr Rabiu, “despite these opportunities, there is no doubt that there is still a huge deficit in supply whilst demand continues to increase in Nigeria. This situation has led to an increase in the retail prices of cement despite ex-factory prices remaining partially unchanged.
“To bridge this huge deficit gap in Nigeria and in the absence of new major investments in the industry, we have taken this decision to invest and build these new plants at a total project cost of 1.05billion dollars which will be completed by the end of 2022.”
Tong Laigou, Chairman of SINOMA CBMI praised the longstanding partnership between BUA and CBMI.
He said the ”firm was pleased to work with BUA on this huge project and help BUA in its aspiration to be the best cement manufacturer in Africa”.
Upon completion, the new facilities will bring BUA Cement’s total capacity to 20 million metric tonnes by per annum.
About the Author
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
