Price of Cement drops in Enugu

By MAUREEN OJINAKA

The price of cement has dropped with about 25 per cent in Enugu, A market survey by the News Agency of Nigeria has revealed.

A visit to some markets on Friday in Enugu, revealed that a 50kg bag of Dangote cement formerly sold at N3,800, was being sold at between N2,800 and N3,000.

Mr Pius Eze, a dealer at Timber market attributed the price fall to availability of the commodity in the market.

“For now Dangote cement is almost everywhere in the market and the price has reduced against what it used to be some months back.

“The major reason for the reduction is the availability of the product in the country, which is as a result of government’s intervention.

“Before now, the price of cement was high and it was scarce, some dealers find it difficult to buy and sell due to its scarcity,” Eze said.

Mr Joseph Ogbu, a dealer at Garki market, corroborated the claim, saying however, that the price of cement was fluctuating in most markets.

“Before now, some shops were without a single bag of cement due to the fluctuation in price and scarcity of the product.

“Today, it is sold for between N2,800 and N3,000 per bag and I pray it continues to be available,” Ogbue said.

However, a building contractor, Mr Innocent Uwakwe, said that the price fluctuation has been the factor making houses expensive in Nigeria.

Uwakwe urged the government to continue to intervene to ensure the reducing of the price to N1,500 per 50kg bag of cement for Nigerians to be able to afford it. (NAN)