Current Prices of Cement in Nigeria (March, 2023)

A building is as strong as the type and quality of materials used in its construction. For this reason, it is advisable you go for a very good and highly-rated building materials whenever you’re set to have a building of your own.

When we’re talking of building materials, the first thing that comes to mind is cement, this is because it plays a very important role in every mansion or any kinds of buildings.

Its no news that the prices of cement in Nigeria has increased due to the failing economy, instability of the Naira to the Dollar and other factors. This has not deterred builders from purchasing it as it is very vital if you must build your house.

There is no house or mansion that can be constructed without cement. Therefore, you should be very careful while choosing the choice of cement for your building.

Top Cement Producing Companies In Nigeria

There are five popular cement producing companies in Nigeria, but two of them are widely known across the country and across the whole of Africa. These two brands are Dangote cement PLC and Lafarge/WAPCO cement

• Dangote Cement Plc

This is one of the firms owned by Africa’s richest man Alhaji Aliko Dangote and it was founded in 1992.

At first, it was called Obajana cement because it was located at Obajana street in Kogi state, middle-belt region of the country.

But as time passed, by March 2010, the name was changed from Obajana cement to Dangote cement.

Despite dumping Obajana as its identity, Dangote cement still has a plant at Obajana street in Kogi up till today.

In fact, the plant in Kogi state is the company’s largest plant in the country because it produces over 10.25mm tones of cement per year.

Other plants in Nigeria include Obeshe in Ogun state which manufactures nothing less than 4mm tones per annum; and Gboko in Benue State which produces over 4mm tones per annum.

The company also have many plants in some African countries, which include: Congo, Senegal, Tanzania, South Africa, Cameroon , Ghana, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Ethiopia.

• Lafarge Cement/ WAPCO Nigeria

This is another big name in cement-making and distributing industry in Nigeria. Lafarge, just like Dangote, is a group of companies but the branch that deals with the production of cement is known as WAPCO Cement.

This company has three massive plants in Ogun state and they all combine to produce at least 4.5mmtpa of cement in one year.

Other plants include: Ashaka cement plant in Gombe state which produces 1mmt on yearly basis; United Cement Company of Nigeria plant in Calabar state which produces 2.5mmtpa of cement per year.

Latest Prices of Cement in Nigeria Today (2023)

As much there are many brands of cement you can choose to buy whenever you’re ready to build your own house, it’s important you very  much careful not to end up buying substandard products, all in the name of cheap prices. Many contractors have fall victim to frauds who sells fake cements products at a very cheap prices.

To end this trend, Nigerian Infofinder made some purposeful researches and came up with the standard prices of cements for different brands in the country.

The price list is unveiled below:

• Dangote cement price === ₦2,570 (a 50kg bag) === ₦1,510,000 (Wholesale i.e 600 bags)
• Elephant cement price (WAPCO) === ₦2,550 (50kg bag) === ₦1,470,000 (Wholesale i.e 600 bags)
• Ashaka cement price === ₦2,550 (50kg bag) === ₦1,470,000 (Wholesale i.e 600 bags)
• Ibeto cement price === ₦2,550 (one 50kg bag) === ₦1,500,000 (Wholesale i.e 600 bags)
• Eagle cement price === ₦2,550 (50kg bag) === ₦1,470,000 (Wholesale i.e 600 bags)
• BUA cement price === ₦2,550 (one bag) === ₦1,470,000 (Wholesale i.e 600 bags.
• UNICEM cement price=== ₦2,550 (50kg bag) === ₦1,480,000 (Wholesale i.e 600 bags)

It is very important you know that the prices listed above are the standard prices for any brand of cement you are looking for.

However, some retailers might add little sum of money to their goods in order to increase their profit by the end of the day. With the recession hitting Nigeria, there has been a sharp increase in prices of goods. A bag of cement today goes from ₦3500 to ₦5000 depending on the state and area of purchase.

Irrespective of the changes in prices, you shouldn’t go below the prices listed above, else, you’re going for substandard cements.

Challenges Facing Cement-Producing companies in Nigeria

Despite the fact that Nigeria doesn’t import cement, the prices of this building material continues to increase from time to time.

The constant increase in the price of cement in Nigeria could be traced to many factors, which one of them is the diverse challenges facing the industry in general.

What are the challenges facing cement companies in Nigeria? The answers to your question are rightly discussed below:

• Epileptic Power Supply

This is the oldest and the toughest challenge facing almost every sector of Nigeria’s economy.

Any firm or industry in a country without adequate and regular supply of electricity is bound to struggle.

Unfortunately, this is what all cement-making companies, and other companies, experience in Nigeria today. Hence, their level of productivity drastically reduces on daily basis.

For well-established companies, the effect isn’t really felt because they have the financial capacity to power  alternative source of electricity to run the business.

For young companies, they have no option but to rely solely on the country’s epileptic source of electricity which lowers their annual yield.

• Unfavorable Government Policies

Nigerian government are known for their harsh policies towards the cement-making companies, which has — in one way or the other reduced their productivity rate.

Though the current government place an embargo on importation of cement in the country — which is a commendable move, the same government also ensures that cement manufacturers pay too many taxes.

• High Cost of Maintenance

Production of large scale cement involves the use of many sophisticated machines which are very expensive to get and to maintain.

This is why many cement companies added some extra charges on their products in order to make mouthwatering profit after the sale of their products.

• High Cost of Distribution

It is one thing to produce, it is another thing to distribute their products to all part of  the country.

In Nigeria, the cost of transportation or distribution of goods from one place to another is very expensive. This is why many companies prefer distributing their products to a specific location rather than targeting all parts of the country.