BUA boss projects rise in cement consumption
Joseph Olaoluwa
Chairman of BUA Cement, Abdulsamad Rabiu, has projected that Nigeria’s cement consumption will rise to about 200kilogrammes per head in the coming years.
Rabiu said this in a statement titled ‘BUA Cement Plc declares FY2020 profits of N95bn’, noting that there was still room for immense growth in the Nigerian cement industry.
The statement forwarded to our correspondent on Sunday said Nigeria with a population of about 200 million people was still greatly underserved by the cement industry.
It said the current consumption levels were at about 130kg per head compared to smaller African countries with consumption levels at about 170 to 180kg per head.
The cement firm which reported N209bn revenue in its unaudited 2020 full year is expected to commission its new three million metric tonnes Sokoto cement plant in 2021.
This is in addition to three new lines of nine million metric tonnes total capacity in Adamawa, Edo and Sokoto states by 2023.
According to Rabiu, BUA Cement is ramping up its investments in new plants to be able to meet this potential demand as well as take advantage of regional export opportunities through the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement which came into effect in 2021.
The statement quoted the Managing Director of BUA Cement Plc, Yusuf Binji, as saying, “Despite the prevailing economic conditions in 2020, BUA Cement remains quite optimistic about the future because it affords us not only with the opportunity to further evolve our business model but also provides an opportunity for accelerated development.
“We will continue to push to new markets aided by a focused distribution strategy.”
He added, “The company increased its net revenues by 19 per cent to N209bn, with sales volumes up 13 per cent by about 600,000tons to 5,100,232 tons in 2020. Operating profits increased to N82.5bn whilst profit after tax rose to N70.5bn from N60.6bn in the corresponding year.”
Binji noted that BUA Cement had in 2020 entered strategic alliances for the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas at its Kalambaina plant, Sokoto State, for the management of its mining operations.
He said these deliberate and strategic choices were to allow the firm combine development and innovation into its offerings and activities to drive efficiency, reduce operating costs and maximize profits.
