BUA Cement has announced the suspension of its discounted cement sales after discovering that dealers were selling the product at exorbitant prices, negating the company’s efforts to reduce costs for consumers.
In a recent statement, Abdulsamad Rabiu, CEO and Chairman of BUA Cement, revealed that the company had sold over a million tons of cement to dealers at a discounted price of N3,500 per bag.
The initiative was aimed at making cement more affordable for the general public. However, despite these efforts, dealers were reportedly selling each bag to consumers at prices ranging from N7,000 to N8,000.
“We sold over a million tons of BUA cement to dealers at a price of N3,500 per bag, to reduce price for the consumers,” Rabiu said.
“However, the dealers were selling each bag of cement to consumers for prices ranging from N7,000 to N8,000.”
Rabiu acknowledged that BUA Cement was unable to regulate the prices at which the dealers sold the cement.
He explained that the company lacks the authority to control pricing once the product enters the open market. Due to this inability to ensure that the reduced prices were passed on to consumers, BUA Cement made the decision to discontinue the discounted sales.
The company’s decision highlights the ongoing challenges faced by manufacturers in controlling the final market prices of their products, particularly when intermediaries are involved.
