BUA Group, majority shareholder of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc (CCNN), at the weekend signed another contract for the construction of a new three million metric tonnes per annum Kalambaina Cement Line 2 in Sokoto State, North West Nigeria.
The deal which is in partnership with Sinoma CBMI, will raise BUA Cement’s total production capacity in Nigeria to 11m MTPA when completed, is coming barely one week after the listing of its shares. It also followed the almost $1bn merger of CCNN and its wholly owned between BUA Kalambaina Cement Company and comes 90 days after the completion of another three million MTPA BUA Obu Cement line 2 in Okpella, Edo State, Southern Nigeria. The contract also happened seven months after commissioning of its 1.5m MTPA Kalambaina Cement Plant line 1 also in Sokoto State.
A statement announcing the deal quoted Abdul Samad Rabiu, Executive Chairman/CEO, BUA Group and Chairman of CCNN as saying construction of the new three million MTPA line conforms to its strategic midterm expansion programme.
Rabiu, who spoke at the contract signing ceremony in Sokoto, said the Nigerian market is still greatly underserved and is projected, especially against the backdrop of expected growth in major infrastructure projects and spending over the next few years.
It is important, he continued, that local manufacturers are able to scale effectively to meet current and projected demand, adding that the partnership is not the first, following the construction of the first BUA Kalambaina Plant in Sokoto State.
“We are very confident that Sinoma CBMI possesses the necessary technical expertise given their track records in deploying cement plants across the world,” assured Tong Laigou, Chairman of CBMI, who signed on behalf of CBMI construction, while Rabiu signed for his group.
On BUA becoming Nigeria’ssecond largest cement producer by volume, Rabiu said that BUA’s strategic cement expansion programme which focused on key regional and export markets has seen it become the second largest producer of cement by volume in Nigeria this year. It equally solidified BUA Cement’s leadership positions in the North West, South South and South East Markets of Nigeria.
“We will continue to deliver quality products which has earned us the ‘King of Strength and King of Cement’ moniker amongst block makers who form the largest users of cement in Nigeria,” he stressed.
It would be recalled that the Security and Exchange Commission had recently approved the merger of the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc with BUA’s Kalambaina Cement Company Limited of Nigeria that saw the enlarged CCNN become Nigeria’s 12th largest company by market capitalisation.
BUA Group’s current cement assets include the 6m MTPA Obu Cement I & II plants in Okpella, Edo State, the 500,000 MTPA Edo Cement Plant, the 1.5m MTPA Kalambaina Cement Plant and the 500,000 Sokoto Cement Plant.
The Group also owns over 90% stake in the publicly listed CCNN Plc and is widely acclaimed for its high capacity utilisation, efficiency and quality of its products.
Photo Caption: Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of both BUA Group and CCNN and Tong Laigou, President CBMI during the signing ceremony for the construction of a new 3million MTPA BUA Kalambaina (CCNN) line 2 in Sokoto State on Saturday, January 5, 2019.
