Yemisi Izuora
The BUA Group is currently discussing with China’s Sinoma for the establishment of a steel plant in Nigeria as well as two cement plants in East Africa for $1.9 billion.
Abdulsamad Rabiu chairman of the group said the two cement plants, which will have an annual capacity of 3 million tonnes each, will cost $700 million.
The steel plant will have a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes and will cost $1.2 billion.
Bua Group had previously signed a $600 million contract with China’s cement manufacturing supplier, Sinoma CBMI, to commence the construction of a second production line, last year september
In a statement, Bua said the pact came following the successful start of production at its new Obu Cement Plant, adding that it is set to further double the capacity of the plant to seven million metric tonnes per year.
This agreement, signed at the Sinoma CBMI offices in China will further bolster BUA Group’s share of the cement market in Nigeria.
Speaking at the signing ceremony which held at the Sinoma CBMI Headquarters in China, Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu, said the new line was part of the group’s organic growth strategy for its cement arm, BUA Cement, Reuters reported.
“Given their proven track record and vast expertise in deploying cement plants across the world, we are confident in SINOMA’s ability to deliver a world-class second line for our Obu Cement Plant as well as meet our stringent environmental, safety, quality and technical requirements for our plants and products.
This additional capacity forms part of our strategic growth programme for our Cement arm, BUA Cement. In the long term, we expect to commit significant investments in cement production across the continent whilst also ensuring that the quality of our products remain a key differentiating factor in the marketplace.”
Board Chairman of Sinoma CBMI, Tong Laigou, said: “We are happy to sign this contract and extend our ongoing partnership with BUA Cement. This signing follows an earlier project to install an additional 1.5mtpa capacity to Sokoto Cement– also subsidiary of BUA Cement, which is expected to be completed soon and commissioned in 2016. We intend to bring our wealth of experience and expertise to bear in bringing this project to fruition.”
Sinoma CBMI has completed many key projects for cement production in China and across the world, including almost all foreign-funded projects in China, with total number of cement production lines exceeding 150.
Among its numerous achievements, CBMI was responsible for constructing the world’s largest cement plant consisting of two 10,000 t/d cement production lines.
BUA Group is one of Nigeria’s largest Foods and Infrastructure conglomerates with significant investments in various sectors of the economy including Cement, Sugar, Steel, Flour & Pasta, Edible Oils, Housing, and Port Operations. It’s cement arm, BUA Cement, currently operates factories in Obu and Okpella, Edo State Nigeria and also in Sokoto through its majority shareholding in CCNN.
