The management of BUA Group has explained why Nigerians cannot buy cement at the promised ex-factory price of N3500 per bag.
The company’s clarification followed a seven-day deadline issued by two civil society groups to its management, demanding the sale of cement at ₦3,500 per bag or face the picketing of the company.
Speaking with reporters on Monday, the Creatives & Visual Identity manager at BUA Group, Timothy Sogbeinde, accused the intermediaries and wholesalers of allowing Nigerians to access the reduced price.
He stated that the company had honoured its pledge to reduce its cement price to N3500, but the wholesalers have continued to hike it. 
Recall that BUA Management had announced the reduction of ex-factory cement prices to ₦3,500 per bag, which would take effect from Monday, October 2, 2023.
In a statement published on its X account, the firm said that the gesture was in keeping with the previous promise to reduce cement prices upon the completion of its new lines at the end of the year.
Naija News had reported that BUA Cement didn’t stop slashing the price but also promised that all pending, undelivered orders which had been paid for at the old prices would be reviewed downwards to N3500/bag in line with the new pricing from October 2, 2023.
Five months later, BUA Cement and indeed all other cement products rose to N12,000 to N13,000 per 50kg bag, a development that has cast doubt on the purported reduction of the price of cement by the company, considering that its product had never been sold to ₦3,500 since October 2023.
According to Sogbeinde, the company honoured the fulfilment to slash the price of cement.
Sogbeinde stated that the company had been selling cement at an ex-factory price of ₦3,500 for several months before discontinuing the offer.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of BUA Group, Kabir Rabiu, said the company sold its cement for ₦3,500 for four months, thinking other manufacturers would join.
He said, “We actually sold our cement for three to four months at ₦3,500. We thought other players in the cement industry would join us in making the price of cement affordable.”
Kabir noted that BUA was unable to maintain the discounted price of ₦3,500, as the intermediaries and wholesalers prevented the intended recipients, the end-users, from accessing the reduced price.
The post Cement: Why Nigerians Can’t Buy ₦3,500 Per Bag – BUA appeared first on Naija News.
