Importation and Dumping of Low-Quality, Cheap Cement into the Enugu and Port Harcourt Causes Dangote Cement Gboko Plant Shutdown.

Dangote Cement Plc (DANGCEM), Nigeria’s biggest company by market capitalization, shut its Gboko plant in the central region of the country because imported, cheap cement is being sold in the area served by the unit.

“There is massive importation and dumping of low-quality, cheap cement imported into the Enugu and Port Harcourt area” in southeastern Nigeria, said Anthony Chiejina, a spokesman for Dangote. This has led to rising levels of unsold cement at the plant, which has an annual capacity of 4 million metric tons, he said.

He mentioned that the closing was just temporary and a resumption date isn’t known yet. Workers have been sent home and were told they would be recalled “once the situation improves,”

info has it that Dangote, Africa’s biggest producer of the building material and owned by billionaire Chairman Aliko Dangote, will raise output to 46.3 million metric tons by 2015 as its expands across Africa. Output in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest economy, will also advance to 32 million tons by 2015 from 20 million tons this year. 

Now that is Some growth...