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Nigeria can save USD 650 million annually on steel importation - Mr Lwuamadi-The 19th China(Guangzhou)Int’l&nb
sp;Metal &Metallurgy Exhibition-metal exhibition
10/31/2017 steel expo-metal &metallurgy expo |
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Punch Ng quoted a local steel maker, African Industries Group, as saying that Nigeria can save over USD 650 million annually if all the steel companies produce at 100 per cent capacity. The Group Executive Director, African Industries Group, Mr Uche Iwuamadi, stated this during a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos.
According to Mr Iwuamadi, steel is the backbone of the economy and an indicator of economic growth, adding that Nigeria has no business importing finished iron rods or steel. He said the total investment of the firm in the sector was above USD 1.1 billion and over USD 650 million was being saved by its export activities.
He said that “We are here to update our stakeholders, partners, Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government about our manufacturing activities in the country. We have been in Nigeria since 1941. For the first time in the history of Nigeria, we are now exporting finished made-in-Nigeria steel to other countries in Africa.”
According to him, the firm produces over one million metric tonnes of steel per annum, representing 33% of the steel consumed in Nigeria, adding that it produces over 55% of the iron rods consumed in the country.
Mr Iwuamadi listed challenges to the business to include power and logistics.
The firm, according to him, generates 115 megawatts of electricity using natural gas and sells the surplus electricity via the national grid.
On logistics, the group executive director disclosed that the firm spent USD 65/MT on freight from Nigeria to Ghana, an amount higher than the USD 40/MT charged on freight from Ukraine to Ghana.
He said however that the group that was in the process of setting up a large agricultural processing facility in the North employed 8,000 Nigerians directly and 100,000 indirectly in its industries located in Agbara, Ogiju, Ikorodu and Port Harcourt.
He concluded that “The quality of steel we produce is at par with the steel products from Ukraine, if not better.”
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