Cement Price Increase Worries Dealers

Some cement dealers in Port Harcourt have lamented over what they described as unprecedented increase in the price of the most demanded materials for construction cement.

Expressing their dissatisfaction over the present price increase in cement by producers in a period when the  public is expecting a decrease in price, some of the dealers posited  that the price increase  was artificial, and  did not follow the usual market trend.

In his explanation, one of the cement dealers  in Port Harcourt who is a distributor with Eastern Bulkcem Ltd, makers of Eagle Cement Mr. Emmanuel Okwor told The Tide that he went to the Eagle Cement company to negotiate for supply, only to discover that it was difficult to get supply, unlike before where he  gets it easily.

According to Okwor, “we were expecting that the price of cement will come down, even with the Federal Government’s decision to set up a cement committee to regulate the business in Nigeria, coupled with the pronouncement of some local producers that they have a glut in the market due to the activities of importers”.

He also hinted that the short break in production that Eagle Cement wanted to embark on, had created some artificial increase in demand, and that such could be responsible for the increase  in price, adding that a trailer load of cement now has recorded a 15 per cent price increase.

Okwor however, posited that he would transfer the increase  to the final consumer from the former price of N1,500 to  N1,700 per bag, adding that Eagle Cement is one of the leaders in cement market in Nigeria, and that whatever affects it, will reflect in the cement market.

As for Mr. Livingstone Eze, one of the dealers along the East/West Road, Cement is relatively difficult to get this time, for us as dealers.

According to him, “I have placed order for over four days now, but there is no supply yet. This is quite unsual. I don’t know what is the cause, and what will likely happen now is that some other producers will take advantage of Eagle cement’s scarcity to increase their own prices”.

He said that he now sells other cement brands at the rate of the Eagle Cement and that other cement now obtained at between N1,500 and N1,700.

On his part, Mr. Enoch Wagbara, also a dealer said the cement market this time is not predictable, explain that while people were expecting a decrease  in price, suddenly the price is going up.

He said he will watch the trend for a while in Port Harcourt, and that he will not make bulk purchase until he is certain about the market price stability.

However, efforts made to see the Public Relations Officer of Eagle Cement was not successful, as he was said to be unstable due to the acclaimed holiday in production of the company, where workers are warming up for such break.

Corlins Walter