HBM Nigeria, wey formerly be Lafarge Africa and now China‘s Huaxin own, don start to recruit distributors across Nigeria. Each distributor must bring at least N250 million working capital. The company also want each person to get warehouse of 500 square metres and access to five trucks wey carry 20 or 40 tonnes. Legit report am.
The Chinese-owned cement maker wey used to be Lafarge Africa dey prepare new production to take market share from Dangote Cement and BUA Cement. HBM don make cement in Nigeria for 67 years, almost all of that time as Lafarge Africa, one of the three large producers for the country.
China’s Huaxin Cement, based for Wuhan and one of ten largest cement groups for world, agree in December 2024 to buy Holcim’s 83.81% stake for about $1 billion. A Senate directive hold the deal up, but e close in August 2025. Shareholders approve new name in April, and HBM stand for Huaxin Building Materials.
Revenue rise 53% to 1.1 trillion naira in 2025, crossing one trillion for first time. Profit after tax nearly triple to 273 billion naira. Shares climb from about 58 naira when sale was announced to about 226 naira by May.
The company dey add capacity for im Sagamu and Ashaka plants through 2026 and into 2027. Na that new distributors suppose sell the extra cement.
A 50kg bag of cement now dey retail between 12,500 and 15,000 naira. For 2023, na 5,500 to 6,000 naira. If you take midpoint, 100 bags cost about 1.375 million naira now, up from about 575,000 naira before.
In July, Dangote Cement sell for 13,000 to 15,000 naira a bag, BUA sell for 12,000 to 14,500, and HBM sell for 12,000 to 13,500. By September, dealers quote about 12,000 naira for all three brands and for Mangal. For Kano, dealers put supply price of Dangote Cement at about 11,450 naira and BUA at about 10,500 naira.
Prices don climb even though Nigeria fit make far more cement than e dey use. Capacity fit reach 75.25 million tonnes a year once planned expansions finish, against demand wey dem estimate at 25 million to 30 million tonnes. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission dey investigate whether cement prices don dey manipulated.
The two companies HBM dey go after are both expanding. Dangote Cement na largest producer for Africa. BUA Cement dey build three-million-tonne plant at Ososo in Edo State for December 2027 and brownfield expansion of similar size at Sokoto for December 2028. That one go take im installed capacity to 20 million tonnes, after im profit rise 381% in 2025.
Aliko Dangote worth $51.3 billion and Abdul Samad Rabiu worth $12.2 billion, according to Forbes.
For Hausa report, HBM wey Chinese own and formerly Lafarge Africa dey increase competition with Dangote and BUA for market share. E start strong distributor recruitment while e dey increase production, even as 50kg bag reach N15,000 for some places. The N250 million working capital demand and warehouse plus trucks requirement na to strengthen distribution before extra cement production.
Competition don dey important as contractors and people wey wan build house dey face high cost of building materials. Current price for 50kg bag na between N12,500 and N15,000. For 2023, e be about N5,500 to N6,000. Using current average, 100 bags go cost about N1.375 million. For 2023, 100 bags na about N575,000. That mean increase of about N800,000 on 100 bags, and e dey add financial burden for country wey get housing deficit above 16 million.
HBM distributor plan dey come as competition among three major cement companies on Nigerian stock exchange dey hot up. Proshare data from half-year 2026 financials show say Dangote Cement produce 56.2% of revenues wey the three companies earn for Nigeria. BUA get 22.7%, while HBM get 21.1%. But those figures show share of revenues dem declare for Nigeria, not share of volume dem sell.
HBM plan to increase cement production capacity from 10.5 million tonnes a year to 14 million tonnes. Additional capacity go come through projects at Sagamu and Ashaka. More production go require expanded distribution to reach large volumes to Nigerian markets. Government construction projects, housing and cement exports fit help absorb some of the extra supply.
More competition for Nigerian market fit force producers and distributors to improve availability and compete on delivery price. FCCPC investigation also show how cement price matter take affect Nigeria. Cement bag price for Nigeria pass wetin neighboring countries dey sell for their markets.
