Business Dangote's Cement Price Cut is Imaginary - Consumers

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LequteMan

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Nigerians received the news that the price of a bag of cement, which was about N1,500 to N1,750 has been reduced to N1,000 with a lot of excitement as the last time a bag of cement was sold for N1,000 was over a decade ago.

However, several weeks after, the much awaited reduction in prices of the all important building material has not materialized, Daily Independent reports.

A visit to various places in Ibadan, Lagos and Ogun State reportedly revealed that there is no where a bag of cement is sold for N1,000.

Little has changed between the time the new price was announced and now. The price of the 32.5 grade has remained at the old price, while that of 42.5 grade is N1,800. It was gathered that the N1,000 price only existed in the imagination of the people because it is not even sold at that price from the factory.

“When I first read the news, I was happy that the much expected game changer in the housing industry has finally come. It was in the euphoria of the news on the price slash that made me approached the cement dealer in Ajuwon area of Ogun State but I was surprise that the price remained at the old level of between N1, 600 and N1,800”, said Mr John Alade, a resident of Ajuwon, Ogun State.

According to Alhaji Tajudeen Osho, a dealer at Berger area of Lagos, “ a bag of cement from the factory as at Wednesday November 12, 2014 for 32.5 grade was N1,250. This is the addition of N1,000 plus value added tax of N50 and a N200 transport per bag. For 42.5 grade the total cost of a bag is N1,450. So, you can see that a bag of cement was never N1,000.

Mr. Sola Adekunle, Managing Director of Elleon Properties, developers of Aspen Estate in Isheri North are of Ogun State, said Nigerians will no longer take news emanating from cement companies serious again as there has not been any significant reduction in the prices of the commodity.

“Dangote Cement should have done its homework well before going to press. The company should have blocked all the loopholes that are working against the new price slash. The idea of engaging in price war or business bickering with competitors should not be handled the way it did,” Adekunle stated.

Another developer, Chief Timothy Idowu, said one of the things that cement makers should do is to ensure that the prices of cement are printed on the bag. He gave example of a popular beverage drink in the country that saw arbitrary increase by retailers and what the manufacturer did was printing the price on the bottle and the crown cork. “What I think will remedy this problem is for the manufacturers to be pro active”.

Amidst surprise in the market, the management of Dangote Cement assured Nigerians that it would evolve a monitoring process that would ensure that profiteers do not hijack the new price cut in cement so that it would benefit the end-users of the commodity.

#Dangote #Nigeria #DangoteCement #DailyIndependent

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