CITIZENS COMPASS–Cement dealers across Nigeria have announced a new price of a 50kg bag of cement as ₦10,500 or more depending on the location.
They cited skyrocketing transportation and production costs, being reasons for the increase in the price.
The increase is an 8.25% increase from the previous price of ₦9,700 just last month.
The lowest price seen in 2025 so far was ₦8,400. This jump is putting more financial pressure on Nigerians, especially those hoping to build homes, since cement is a major building material.
Dealers say the main reason for the price increase is the rising cost of transportation. This recent adjustment is the highest recorded in 2025 so far.
This price hike is also expected to increase the cost of building construction. As materials like cement get more expensive, property prices are likely to keep rising too. The three biggest cement producers in Nigeria—Dangote Cement, BUA Cement, and Lafarge—are said to play a major role in deciding market prices.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, recently expressed his concern about the situation. He said the high cost of cement is affecting government construction projects across the country. He asked cement producers to reduce their prices, especially now that the exchange rate has become more stable.
His words were:
“Let me use the opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the cost of cement. Our contractors have called and complained that they wanted to move back to asphalt. We are using this medium to tell the cement manufacturers that, at the time, the dollar was almost N2,000; they increased cement from N7,500. Why should today, when the President has brought the dollar to stability to about N1,400 and is still going down, cement be selling for N9,500?”
He added:
“We are requesting cement manufacturers to bring down the cost of cement to N7,000. If after one week they don’t do that, I have to complain officially to Mr. President.”
Meanwhile, cement producers argue that their production costs have gone up sharply. In 2024 alone, the three major companies spent around ₦3.64 trillion on production. This is a big jump—about 72% more than the ₦2.12 trillion they spent in 2023.
—PUNCH
