Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of BUA Cement, revealed that the company’s plan to sell cement at N3,500 per bag in 2023 was thwarted by cement dealers. Despite selling over a million tons of cement to dealers at this price, the dealers sold it to consumers for N7,000 to N8,000 per bag.
Speaking in Abuja, Rabiu explained that the company had to abandon the policy as it was not intended to financially benefit the dealers. He noted that BUA Cement could not control the dealers, who were making significant profits due to high margins, as the company did not influence market prices.
Rabiu stated, “Many dealers exploited the policy, selling at double the price we set. We sold over a million tons at N3,500 before realizing their actions. Due to the Naira’s devaluation and the removal of the fuel subsidy, we couldn’t maintain the policy. We didn’t want to subsidize dealers, especially with the exchange rate jumping from N600 to N1,800 per US Dollar, making it even harder to sustain the price policy.”123
