Nigeria: Ibeto Group, the owners of Ibeto Cement Company Limited, has stated that the cement the company imports into Nigeria is not responsible for any market surplus. In a statement issued by Ibeto Cement the company proposed that the first sign of a glut in the market of a product is a 'drastic' reduction in price. There has been no drop in the price of cement in Nigeria.
The group, in a statement signed by its executive director of Strategy and Public Affairs, Dr Ben Aghazu, argued that since it imports 1.5Mt/yr or less than 5% of the annual cement supply to the Nigerian market it cannot be held responsible for any surplus on the market. Ibeto Cement became the sole importer of cement into the country following an out of court settlement following the closure of its bagging plant in Bundu Ama in 2005. Ibteo Cement was subsequently allowed to import 1.5Mt/yr bulk cement from October 2007 until September 2017.
Aghazu further accused Dangote Group of trying to influence the Federal Government to 'invalidate' Ibteo's import quota by raising the taxes on imported cement or by banning clinker imports outright.
"Unfortunately, in our country the antitrust laws probably don't exist or aren't enforced when it pertains to the Dangote Group, which holds a monopolistic stranglehold on several significant and strategic sectors of the economy," said Aghazu.
