AFRICA: Price of cement drops in Benue

The price of Dangote Portland cement in Benue has gone down from N2,600 to N2,250, while Bua cement has also gone down from N2,700 to N2,250. The drop in the prices of the product became necessary as a result of the Federal Government's ultimatum to cement companies to cut down their prices. Ejike Okafor, a dealer,

said that the cost of manufacturing the product was still very high but that companies had opted to cut down their prices in line with government's order. Okafor said that the cost of transporting the product from the factories to warehouses was still high.

Another dealer, Veronica Nwabueze, blamed the high prices of cement on the high cost of diesel. ``Cement companies use diesel in their production machines and it is also used by the articulated vehicles that transport the product to dealers," Nwabueze said. Timothy Gbin, a trader, urged the Federal Government to prevail on the oil companies to cut down the prices of their products. ``If that is done, the cost of producing and transporting the product would be drastically reduced.

When that happens, the product would be sold to end users at cheap and affordable rates," Gbin said. Malam Adamu Idris, owner of a block industry in the state, said that the high cost of cement had compelled him to increase the price of blocks in order to make profit. (NAN)