Displaying items by tag: BUA Group

Nigeria: BUA Group's US$600m, 3Mt/yr capacity Obu cement plant in Okpella, Edo is set to be start cement dispatches in the first week of August 2015. Clinker production has already commenced.

"The Obu Cement plant, which is about 5km away from Edo Cement Company, is 100% owned by BUA Group. The Edo Cement plant, which has a capacity of 500,000t/yr is also being upgraded and will receive clinker from the Obu Cement plant before being fully completed," said BUA Group chairman and CEO Abdulsamad Rabiu. "The two plants will produce about 3.5Mt/yr of cement. Asides from the initial cost of over US$500m in Obu Cement, we have also invested over US$100m in gas turbines to power a 50MW plant for 24-hour electricity generation, as well as the construction of a 30km gas supply pipeline." The Obu Cement plant was supplied by FLSmidth of Denmark, while the civil construction was handled by construction firm Julius Berger.

Rabiu said that the company's three-year journey to construct the plant would give a much-needed boost to Nigeria's cement industry, as well as enhance the development of related sectors including housing and construction. Rabiu said that the plant's location in Edo makes it a strategic point for markets in the north and south of the country. "Essentially we are 200m to the highway linking Okene, Kogi and Benin, Edo, which will guarantee adequate distribution of products," said Rabiu. Rabiu revealed that an estimated 250 – 300 trailers of cement would be delivered to markets across the regions each day once the Obu plant starts full commercial operations.

The Obu Cement plant currently uses 9000t/day of limestone and clay for its large-scale operations, which will provide over 1500 direct jobs. The plant will produce 32.5, 42.5 and 52.5 grade cement.

"As far back as April 2014, BUA Group signed a gas sales and purchase agreement with the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), which will guarantee the supply of about 0.9Mft3/day of gas to the Obu plant. However, liquid fuels will also be used as a backup, to ensure production around the clock," said Rabiu.

Nigeria: On 2 June 2015 the House of Representatives intervened in a dispute between Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Alhaji Ado Ibrahim and Company (AICO) in Kogi State and Okpella in Edo State over the ownership of a limestone deposit. The motion on the issue, which came as a matter of Urgent National Importance, moved by Edo lawmaker Abubakar Momoh, was unanimously adopted by the House.

"This peaceful co-existence is being threatened by the purported sale of OBU Limestone in Okpella, owned by Okpella Cement, to Dangote Company by Alhaji Ado Ibrahim. This is with a view to frustrating BUA Cement Company, which acquired Okpella Cement as a private investor," said Momoh.

According to Momoh, BUA has also built a cement plant in Okpella, which is due for inauguration in June 2015. "The House recalls that when in 1994, this same ownership of OBU Limestone deposit arose, the Okpella community went to court on the issue. The suit was filed against AICO, which prompted AICO to file application in 1997 to the Okpella community for local consent. The consent was turned down on account of having already granted the same to Edo Cement, which owned the mining license of the deposit," said Momoh.

According to Momoh, if nothing was done immediately to settle the matter, it might lead to a clash between the parties. He urged the security agencies to make adequate security arrangements in the location. "The governments of Edo and Kogi should intervene and settle the matter amicably, before it degenerates into serious inter-communal clash between the two states. The National Boundary Commission is urged to intervene with a view to permanently establishing the boundary between Edo and Kogi."

The acting speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, who presided over the plenary session, advised the two communities to maintain peace and assured them that the house would do its best to resolve the issue.

Nigeria: Bua Group International has invested US$500m in a 3Mt/yr capacity greenfield cement plant in Okpella, Edo State. The Obu Cement Plant will take Bua's cement capacity to 5.3Mt/yr when it is commissioned in February 2015.

Bua Group already operates a 0.5Mt/yr capacity cement plant in Sokoto State via its subsidiary, Sokoto Cement. The plant currently operates at 100% capacity. Bua Group is also constructing a new 1.5Mt/yr capacity in the same state. In Edo State, Bua Group currently owns the 0.3Mt/yr capacity Edo Cement Plant.

The Obu plant is planned for conclusion and commissioning within the first quarter of 2015, and is predicted to hire over 1000 direct labour and thousands of indirect labour, according to Yusuf Binji, executive director, project and technical, Bua Group, Okpella, Edo State.

Nigeria: BUA Cement has signed a gas sales and purchase agreement with the Nigerian Gas Company for its subsidiary, the Edo Cement Company. The agreement is for the supply of about 0.9Mm3/day to the Edo cement plant in Okpella, according to managing director Saidu Mohammed.

BUA Group entered the cement industry in 2008 when the Federal Government of Nigeria issued cement import licenses to 13 companies, including BUA, in an effort to bring down its price locally. BUA Cement subsequently purchased a floating cement terminal in 2008 for processing and bagging bulk cement. In 2009 BUA acquired controlling stakes in the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (Sokoto Cement) and the Edo Cement Company.

Nigeria: BUA Group has embarked on the building of a USD 500m cement plant at Okpella community in Edo. When completed the plant will produce 2.5Mt/yr of cement. Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, announced at the contract signing ceremony for the building of the plant on 2 June 2011 in Abuja that the building of the Edo Cement Plant would be completed by August 2013.

"The building of the Edo Cement Plant will take 28 months to be completed and it is expected to offer jobs to 4000 skilled workers and over 20,000 indirect jobs to Nigerians," Rabiu stated. He explained that the management of BUA Group had signed a contract for FLSmidth to build the plant, saying that the establishment of the facility was to assist the country to attain self-sufficiency in cement production. The project will be financed by FLSmidth and a consortium of banks led by EcoBank, which has so far provided an initial US$50m to initiate the project. Other banks in the consortium include First Bank, Diamond Bank, Fin Bank and Bank PHB.

The President of the Cement Manufacturing Association of Nigeria, Mr Joseph Makoju, lauded the management of BUA Group for the investment, saying that the plant would contribute significantly to the quest of the Federal Government to make Nigeria a net cement exporter. He lauded the government for its back-integration policy in the cement sector, saying that the policy would assist in efforts to reduce the high cost of cement and other building materials in the country. He expressed delight at the involvement of FLSmidth, saying that the company had already been involved in a number of successful cement plants in Nigeria.

The Vice President of FLSmidth, Mr Per Mejnert Kristensen, gave an assurance that his company would complete the building of the plant on schedule while commending the Federal Government for providing the atmosphere for foreign direct investment. He said his company would build a facility Nigerians would be proud of.