Cement manufacturers boycott Trade Minister’s meeting on price regulation

On Monday, 1 July 2024, five major cement manufacturers boycotted a scheduled meeting with the Minister of Trade and Industry, K.T. Hammond.

The meeting was to discuss a proposed Legislative Instrument (LI) aimed at regulating cement prices.

The manufacturers—Dangote, Supacem, Ghacem, Diamond Cement, and CIMAF—cited the need for closed-door discussions as their reason for not attending.

The boycott comes amid strong opposition from the manufacturers to the LI’s efforts to control cement prices. Despite their absence, Minister K.T. Hammond remained resolute about proceeding with the LI.

“This was not supposed to be a press conference. It was supposed to be a meeting with the cement manufacturers,” the Trade and Industry Minister said at a press briefing.

“You will recall that in the last few days, I didn’t quite lay a document, but I have given an indication of my intention to lay an LI, which will relate to the pricing of cement in the country,” the Minister stated.

Clarifying the status of the LI, the Minister explained: “I am not sure, but I suspect that in my absence, the majority leader may have sent it out. I haven’t been able to ascertain what exactly happened, but somehow it has gone all over the country that we are trying to lay an LI…I am going to do it; we didn’t do it on this occasion.”

Addressing rumours about opposition interference, the Minister revealed: “The story out there is that the NDC prevented us; that is not true…I just gave a copy to my leader, the majority leader, concerning what I had in mind. But since that time, there have been so many complaints that I hadn’t consulted with the stakeholders before trying to lay the LI as they claim. I have refuted that on the various platforms.”

He emphasised ongoing consultations with industry stakeholders.

“Consultation with these players has continuously been taking place. On a specific occasion, when I inaugurated a committee that was going to be responsible for this price regulation.

He added: “I charged the manufacturers and their respective associations to be mindful of pricing cement in the country. We’ve asked them to publish the expatriate prices for us to have an idea into how much they are going to sell a bag of cement.”