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Marketers are selling the price of Bua cement above N5,000 even after the company said it is slashing the price.
They say the price of the cement would not be sold for N3,500 even if Bua slashes its ex-factory price .
They said manufacturers must further bring down the ex-factory price to reflect a significant change.
The ex-factory price of BUA cement was recently reduced by 30% to N3,500, but the cement has continued to be sold for N5,000 and above in several regions of the country.
In an earlier report, the company said the changes were to be reflected starting Monday, October 2, 2023.
According to findings, the cost of a bag of BUA cement is as high as N5,500 in some regions of the nation.
A well-known bricklayer in Lagos’ Iyana-Iba neighbourhood has described the announcement to lower cement prices as simply a media spin.
He claims that ever since the announcement, the bricklayers have continued to expect this to reflect, but no marketer has managed to lower the price.
He said; Here, we have not seen any price deduction. It is only in the news that they mentioned the price of Bua cement will be slashed.
I am still buying the cement for N5,200.”
YOUNEWS’ checks also revealed the marketers’ thinking . We were told it’s not an orchestrates attempt to thwart BUA’s plot.
It’s all about market forces, we were told.
Cement traders explained why cement prices might not be offered for so cheap.
A major cement distributor Alhaja Shakira Folarin, said that even if BUA gives out a bag of cement at the rate of N3,500 from its plants in Kalambaina, Sokoto State, or Obu, Okpella, in Edo State, it doesn’t mean consumers will buy for the same amount.
While BUA is in charge of delivering the goods to its depots in Lagos and the South West states for large distributors to pick up, he said that the distributors are in charge of paying the costs of transporting the cement from BUA depots to their warehouses.
According to the marketers, retailers do not receive the merchandise from distributors at the amount of N3,500 as stated by BUA.
A marketer explained;
“How do Nigerians want us to sell at N3,500 since we are not buying at the rate? The last consignment I bought was at the old rate as my distributor told me that his price had not changed.
Yes, you can buy at the rate of N3,500 as a distributor when you go to Sokoto or Edo State where I learned the company has its plants. However, you will need to hire a trailer to bring the products to your warehouse.
He noted that if this is added to the cost of diesel now, it will sum up to more than two thousand naira on transportation.
He added that the distributors sell to them at N5,000 or N5,100. Hence they, as retailers, sell for N5,300.
