Displaying items by tag: Nigeria

Nigeria: The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has awarded Dangote Cement with its Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) certification. The certification accredits the cement producer’s products and its ability to run tests on processed and raw materials in alignment with national standards, according to the Sun newspaper. Osita Anthony Aboloma, the Director General of SON, made the announcement during a tour of Dangote Cement’s Obajana plant in Kogi State.

Nigeria: The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is in discussions with Dangote Cement to transport cement. Fidet Okhiria told the Herald newspaper that talks between the companies are at an advanced stage. He also disclosed that the Lagos to Ibadan and Itakpe to Warri standard gauge railway line projects are on course and are about to start being tested respectively.

Africa: The establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to help Dangote Cement’s production capacity to expand 27.5Mt/yr by 2030. The Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) made the forecast as part of a report on the potential benefits of the free trade area, according to this This Day newspaper. The report follows a meeting of the African Union in Mauritania in late June 2018. It used the cement industry as a case study for the benefits of the free trade arrangement.

Nigeria: Aramando Martinez, the director of Dangote Cement’s Ibese plant, says that the unit exports 15 – 20% of its total production to markets in Benin, Togo and Ghana. The plant has a production capacity of 12Mt/yr, according to the Business Daily newspaper. Martinez added that the plant has also concluded plans to export 2Mt of clinker to grinding plants in Ghana and Cameroon in the second half of 2018.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has opened a terminal at Owerri in Imo State. The unit was officially inaugurated by the governor of the state, Chief Rochas Okorocha with the president of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, also in attendance, according to the This Day newspaper. In a speech Dangote said that the state was one of the ‘major’ markets domestically for the company.

Nigeria: The Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) plans to merge with Kalambaina Cement, a subsidiary of BUA Cement. CCNN operates a 0.5Mt/yr plant at Sokoto and Kalambaina Cement runs a 1.5Mt/yr plant, also in Sokoto state, according to the This Day newspaper. The merger is intended to improve CCNN’s competitiveness locally and take advantage of the newly-built Kalambaina Cement plant.

Nigeria: BUA Group is ready to commission a new 1.5Mt/yr cement production line at its Sokoto Cement plant in the northwest of the country. The upgrade will increase production at the unit to 0.5Mt/yr, according to the Vanguard newspaper. The company exports cement from the plant to neighbouring Niger. The new line will run on coal and natural gas. The cement producer also operates a 3.5Mt/yr plant at Okpella & Obu in Edo state in the mid-west of the country.

Nigeria: Ibeto Cement has signed a deal with Milost Global for US$850m. The US-based private equity firm will provide US$500m in equity and US$350m as debt to the cement producer, according to Bloomberg. In a separate development Ibeto Cement has also entered into a reverse merger with Century Petroleum, an oil and gas exploration company.

Ibeto Cement has operated a cement terminal in Port Harcourt since 2005. It is also renovating the former Nigercem plant in Nkalagu. It announced a US$386m contract with China’s Sinoma in late 2015 to build a cement plant in Enugu.

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa’s chairman Mobolaji Balogun says that the company plans to cut its debts by 2020 before continuing with its expansion programme. In an interview with Bloomberg he said that the cement producer wants reduce its leverage ratio to below 70% from over 100% at present.

The subsidiary of LafargeHolcim wants to take advantage of improvements in the Nigerian economy and a recovery in South Africa to grow its profits. Its total debt recently dropped to about US$600m. Lafarge Africa incurred debt to expand the production capacity at its Calabar cement plant and plans to add more production to plants in the southwest and the north of the country.

Nigeria: Joe Makoju, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement, has revealed that the cement producer exports 0.21Mt of cement to Ghana, Togo and Niger in the first quarter of 2018. The company’s revenue grew by 16% year-on-year to US$668m from US$575m, according to the Vanguard newspaper. Its profit increased by 29% to US$199m from US$154m. Cement sales rose by 2.8% to 6.2Mt from 6.03Mt.