THE joint committee of the House of Representatives investigating arbitrary rise of cement price in the country, has asked major producers in the industry to tender documents on cost production to justify the price of cement in the market.
The committee resolved to visit production plants of the companies after going though their books to ascertain the cost of production with a view to determine a fair price of cement for all Nigerians.
The Chairman of the joint committee, Jonathan Gaza (APC-Nasarawa) made the demand on Friday at a public hearing while quizzing Dangote Cement Company and Lafarge Africa Plc in Abuja.
He said that the committee is interested in the cost of production from 2020 to date that justified the current price of cement which is over N10,000 in most parts of the country.
He said that the companies should give its average daily consumption of coal, gas, gypsum, limestone, clay, laterite and the average daily production of cement from 2020 to date.
Gaza said that the companies should provide details of all imported components for the production of cement and their prices from
2020 to date.
The lawmaker said that the companies should also provide details of local components for the production of cement and their prices in naira and dollars if any in the period under review.
He said that the companies should provide a summary of the monthly prices and guantity of cement produced from 2019 to date as well as their audited accounts of the company, bills of ladan and duties paid to customs within the period under review.
Gaza also said that the companies should provide details of tax waivers and other incentives enjoyed plus gas and explosives contract details.
Dabo Ismail (APC-Bauchi state) a member of the committee said that Dangote Cement Company had continued to make increasing profits in the country despite being able to source most of its raw materials locally.
He said that in 2022, the company declared a profit of N524 billion, N553 billion in 2023 and have so far made N166.4 billion in 2024.
The lawmaker said that there is no reason why the price of cement will keep rising in the market to the detriment of Nigerians while producers are smiling to he banks.
Earlier, the Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement Company, Arvind Pathack, said that 95 per cent of production cost are either imported or linked to forex.
He explained that there had been between 100 to 333 per cent increase in the price of major cement input materials like gas, AGO, gypsum, imported coal, spare parts, new trucks, tyres, petrol among others.
