Lafarge, SON decry lull in manufacturing industries over dearth of gas

Segun Shoyoye and Hannes Diedericks, managers of Ewekoro Cement Plants I and II respectively, have decried loss of working hours and underutilisation of resources being experienced in manufacturing industries as a result of non-availability of gas.

The duo of Lafarge Africa production managers said the situation has been putting unnecessary pressures on the cement manufacturers in the last six months, prompting a temporary shut-down of Sagamu Cement Plant for six weeks and below-capacity operations in Ewekoro Cement Plants.

Speaking at Ewekoro, Ogun State, while welcoming a team of public officers on inspection tour led by acting director-general of Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Segun Shoyoye, Ewekoro Cement Plant Manager I, said the twin problems of non-availability of gas and foreign exchange are impeding full capacity production in manufacturing industries.

Shoyoye, who jointly spoke with Hannes Diedericks, Ewekoro Cement Plant II manager on the challenges facing the multinational cement company bordering on lack of gas supply and foreign exchange, appealed to government to help investors wade through these challenges in order to remain in business.

“We can say we have some challenges, but the major issue is lack of gas supply because of oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta. Today, because of what we have talked about, we are using a mixture of gas and black oil for our operations which is highly costly, and also down- rates our production from 100 percent to 75 percent in Ewekoro plants. This has been on since February.

“During the month of May, we had to stop production in Sagamu plant for 6 weeks. Before then, we had been producing 3,000 tons per day, but now we are doing about 1,000 per day because of the fuel issue. But I want to say that we will soon get over it because of our investment in alternative source of energy in our plants,” Shoyoye said.

Corroborating the position of Lafarge Africa on non-availability of gas and foreign exchange, Paul Angya, acting DG of SON, confirmed that the challenges faced by investors are responsible for high cost of production and expensive costs of Nigerian products, which make them non-competitive.

Angya noted that despite high cost of production which induced challenges earlier identified by investors, manufacturers in Nigeria still maintain good and international standards in their operations and production, adding that goods processed and produced in the country can still compete favourably with peers abroad.

“Clearly, that is a major national challenge, the issue of gas supply and activities of the militants in the Niger Delta with the supply of gas nation-wide. It has, of course, hampered the capacity of industries to produce.

“Also, with the downturn of economy, reduction in the inflow of forex because of oil prices, Nigeria has also faced challenge of amount of foreign exchange available to industries. These are problems government is tackling frontally. Government is determined to reverse these negative trends,” Angya said.

Speaking on quality assurance and control in the manufacturing industries in the country, the acting DG said, “I can tell you that the local manufacturers are over 70 percent compliant to standard requirements, although, we have issue with competition. Perhaps, they are not able to compete in terms of price because of cost of production, but in terms of quality of products, I score local manufacturers over 70%.”

RAZAQ AYINLA