Cement Manufacturers Target 17m Output In 2011

The Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (CMAN) says estimated supply of 17 million metric tonnes of local production of cement is achievable in 2011.

The Executive Secretary of CMAN, Mr James Salako, said on Wednesday in Lagos that this was part of the manufacturers’ efforts to guarantee self sufficiency in the local demand of cement.

He said that new cement plants with combined capacity of 14 million metric tonnes were currently under construction, adding that they were expected to come on the stream at different periods of the year.

“This year, we expect all the new facilities presently under construction to come on stream.

“We expect to start in 2012 with a total installed capacity of 28 million metric tonnes per annum.

“We do not expect anything less than 60 per cent performance from most of the new plants in 2012,’’ he said.

Salako said that the ultimate was not just to become self sufficient in cement production, but “to become a net exporter of the product.”

He said that the Federal Government had given 2013 for the attainment of self-sufficiency in cement production.

The secretary said that since the introduction of the Backward Integration Policy in 2002, local cement production had maintained a steady rise.

According to him, it rises from its very low level of two million metric tonnes in 2002 to 10.1 million tonnes in 2010, representing increase of over 400 per cent in eight years.

He said that the total supply of cement into the Nigerian markets in 2010 was 15.8 million metric tonnes, saying that of the figures, supply from local manufacturers accounted for 64 per cent.