BUA, Chinese Firm To Build $1.05bn Cement Plants
BUA Cement has signed an agreement with Sinoma CBMI of China for the construction of three new cement plants of three million tonnes each per annum, a project valued at $1.05bn.
A statement by the company on Tuesday stated the plants would be located in Edo, Sokoto and Adamawa states and were billed for completion by the end of 2022.
Upon completion, BUA said its cement’s capacity would increase to 20 million metric tonnes by 2022 in the statement titled ‘BUA to construct 3 cement plants of 9mmtpa in Sokoto, Edo and Adamawa’.
At nine million tonnes combined capacity, this is the single largest contract ever awarded in the Nigerian cement industry for the construction of new cement plants at the same time and by a single company, the company said.
According to the company, the three new plants are in addition to BUA Cement’s already existing 6mmtpa plants in Edo State, 2mmtpa plants in Sokoto State and another 3mmtpa BUA Cement plant in Sokoto, which will be commissioned in the second quarter of 2021.
Speaking at the ceremony held simultaneously at BUA headquarters in Lagos and the CBMI headquarters in China, Chairman of BUA Cement, Abdul Rabiu, said the expansion decision aimed to transform the manufacturing industry and increase Nigeria’s cement production capacity.
He noted, “Nigeria and the surrounding region is still home to huge opportunities in construction, housing, infrastructure, and allied industries.
“Despite these opportunities, there is no doubt that there is still a huge deficit in supply whilst demand continues to increase in Nigeria.
“This situation has led to an increase in the retail prices of cement despite ex-factory prices remaining partially unchanged.
“To bridge this huge deficit gap in Nigeria and in the absence of new major investments in the industry, we have taken this decision to invest and build these new plants at a total project cost of $1.05bn, which will be completed by the end of 2022.”
In his comments, the Chairman of SINOMA CBMI, Mr Tong Laigou, praised the longstanding partnership between BUA and CBMI.
