As President Goodluck Jonathan’s directive to cement manufacturers and other stakeholders to bring down the price of the product in 30 days ended on Tuesday, price of the product dropped from an average of NGN2500/50kg bag (US$16)  to between NGN1600 and NGN1900/bag (US$10 and US$12) nationwide.

A survey from local newspaper, THISDAY, shows that the price dropped by between 25 per cent and 35 per cent across the country depending on the brand and the location of the retailer.

In Lagos State the price of a 50kg bag of cement now sells for between NGN1600 and NGN1900. In Ogun State, the price is now about NGN1900 - approximately NGN700 off the NGN2600 average price of a 50kg bag, which was the price before the presidential directive.

In Edo State the product now sells for an average of NGN1850 while in Port Harcourt, 50kg bag of cement now goes for NGN1900. In Asaba and Sapele the product sells for between NGN1700 and NGN1900.

In the north, the price has also dipped further ranging between NGN1700 and NGN1900 depending on the location of the retailer and the brand.

Chairman of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mr Joseph Makoju, said manufacturers had gone the extra mile to ensure that Jonathan’s directive resulted in some reduction on prices.

"Manufacturers had to help boost the distribution of the product in order to achieve the reduction in the price of cement that we have now experienced. Dangote took measures such as purchasing 5000 trucks for the distribution of the product and worked closely with its distributors to ensure that no one was taking supernormal profit at the expense of the end users of cement," he said.

He said other manufacturers such as Lafarge Cement WAPCO plc also took their own steps to boost more effective distribution that helped to deflate prices.

Makoju added that with the coming inauguration of Dangote’s 6Mta capacity Ibeshe plant in August and the 2.5Mt Lakatabu plant by Lafarge in three weeks, the price of cement is most likely to continue in a downward spiral till the end of the year and beyond.