The manufacturer responds to reports its cement cost more in
The
The firm said the price of a bag of cement from its factories and plants in Obajana and Gboko is N2,450, and N2,510 at Ibese.
He said that these were the prices of cement which included the Value Added Tax (VAT) as at
According to him, the clarifications become necessary in view of the recent reports that the company sells cement in
"While a bag of Cement sells for an equivalent of
He said that though the company has direct control over its ex-factory prices, it cannot control the ultimate price of cement when it gets to the open market.
"This allegation is false, misleading, and unfounded," he said.
He attributed the high cost of cement in
"
"To ensure that we meet local demands, we had to suspend exports from our recently inaugurated export terminals, thereby foregoing dollar earnings," he said.
He said that the company had also reactivated its 4.5 million ton capacity Gboko Plant which was closed down four years ago and the company is running it at a higher cost.
"This is all in a bid to guarantee that we meet demands and keep the price of cement within control in the country.
"Over the past 15 months, our production costs have gone up significantly.
"About 50 per cent of our costs are linked to the USD, so the costs of critical components such as : gas, gypsum, bags, and spare parts; have increased significantly due to the devaluation of the Naira and VAT increase.
"Despite this,
He said that the company had only adjusted its transport rates to account for higher costs of diesel, spare parts, tyres, and trucks' replacement.
(NAN)
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