By Dipo Olowookere
One of the leading cement makers on the continent of Africa, Dangote Cement Plc, has suspended the exportation of clinker.
The clinker is one of the major raw materials used in the production of cement and it was only last year the company commenced clinker exports to other African countries.
In a statement issued in July 2020, Dangote Cement had said it exported 27,800 metric tonnes of the product to Senegal and was working towards increasing the quantity of clinker exported to other African countries.
However, due to the rising demand for cement in Nigeria, the firm took a strategic decision to suspend the exportation of the commodity to help reduce the price of cement in the country.
Dangote Cement, in a statement issued last week, quoted its GMD/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Michel Puchercos, as confirming that, “We took the strategic decision to pause our clinker exports to ensure we meet the rapid volume growth in the Nigerian domestic market.”
“We are improving the output of our existing and new assets and aim to recommence clinker exports in the second quarter,” he added.
In the first quarter of 2021, Dangote Cement ramped up production capacity in the Obajana Line 5 and resumed production at the Gboko plant to meet increased demand for its products.
This led to an increase in the total volume of cement sold in the first three months of the year from its Nigerian operations to 4.9Mt compared to the 4.0Mt sold in the first quarter of 2020.
In addition, the pan-African operations sold 2.6Mt of cement in the period under review compared to 2.3Mt sold in the corresponding period in 2020.
The pan-Africa operations reached new heights in the period, with an EBITDA margin of 25.5 per cent and volume growth of 12.8 per cent.
This helped the company to close with a profit after tax of N89.7 billion. This was after the cement maker paid N40.39 billion in taxation to the nation’s treasury, 47.3 per cent higher than the N27.42 billion paid in the corresponding period of the 2020 financial year.
In addition, the company currently pays over N240 million Value Added Tax (VAT) daily to the government, making Dangote Cement one of the biggest private-sector taxpayers in the country.
As part of the company’s corporate social responsibility, in line with the government’s quest to boost infrastructural development in the country, Dangote Cement opted to provide funding for the constructions of major roads in Lagos and Kogi States.
The roads are the critical Lagos Apapa Port road leading to the old toll gate and the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba road straddling Kogi and Kwara states.
Dangote Cement is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest cement producer with an installed capacity of 48.6Mta across 10 African countries and operates a fully integrated “quarry-to-customer” business with activities covering manufacturing, sales and distribution of cement.
The firm intends to continue to churn out better numbers and according to Mr Puchercos, “One of our priorities in 2021 is to strengthen our alternative fuel initiative.”
“It focuses on leveraging the circular economy business model, optimising costs and reducing exposure of our cost base to foreign currency fluctuations,” he explained.
Adedapo Adesanya