Fresh N3.84b injected into Benue Cement
March 30th, 2007 Ogbuotobo Chuks || chuks@stockmarketnigeria.com
By Ogbuotobo Chuks
Indigenous industrialist and core investor in the Benue Cement Company (BCC), Gboko, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has injected a fresh $300 million (about N3.84 billion) in the upgrading of the cement factory in Benue State.
The investment is aimed at expanding the factory’s production capacity from the initial installed capacity of 900,000 tons per annum to three million tons per annum. The expansion work, which is at about 80 per cent completion stage, is billed for commissioning in July 2007.
The funds injection have been deployed in the construction of two new additional production lines, the refurbishment of the two old lines, the building of the power plant, as well as the construction of two new storage silos and general upgrading of infrastructure within and around the factory.
As part of the privatisation programme of the Federal Government, Dangote Industries Limited acquired the Federal Government’s 35 per cent equity of BCC, which had become moribund in April 2000.
Some of the company’s challenges include high production cost due to poor power situation in the country as this is responsible for the persistent rise in the price of the product in Nigeria. Efforts were on by the company to deplore other energy alternatives such as gas, including building an independent power plant to cut down production cost.
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