Photograph — Springnewsng

A Chinese company specialized in the production of building materials, Sinoria FABCOM, has announced plans to float a fiber cement board factory in Nigeria.

According to the company’s Deputy General Manager, Jackie Dai Hui, the decision to invest in this new venture was as a result of the success it had recorded in the production of stone coated roofing sheets in the country.

“Our stone coated roofing tiles are adjudged the best in the Nigerian market. Our products are manufactured here in our facility in Kuje (Abuja) but are available all over the country and the West African subregion,” Hui said. “The new line of production of fibre cement board is a follow up to the tradition we have established for ourselves which is based on quality and customer satisfaction.”

Sinoria FABCOM plans on helping Nigeria solve its housing problem by providing quality and affordable materials to the building and construction sector.

As the company hopes to join other established players in the cement production industry such as Dangote and Lafarge, it would be premature to predict the long-term prospects at this early stage. However, breaking into the market is undoubtedly tough.

Nigeria’s cement production industry is tightly competitive with a long history of rivalry between key players. According to a review by Proshare Intelligent Investing, Dangote Cement is the largest producer with about 60 percent market share; Lafarge Africa holds 30 percent, leaving the remaining 10 percent to other minor contributors.

Unless Sinoria FABCOM is able to create an aggressive strategy and sell its products at a ‘ridiculously’ cheap price, its chances of disrupting the cement market or getting a relatively substantial market share are slim.

However, a positive look at this investment in Nigeria is the number of job opportunities it will be generating for citizens. The company stated that the first line in the fibre cement factory would be able to produce over five million square meters in a year. To produce this number of cement, enough workmanship and expertise will need to be deployed.

Sinoria FABCOM is positive the economic condition of Nigeria is one where it can flourish especially under the government of President Mohammadu Buhari. In Hiu’s words, “Nigeria has all it takes, the raw materials are there and skilled manpower is on the rise, it is only a question of time and I believe this would be very soon.”

Sinoria FABCOM is a subsidiary of China National Building Material Co. (CNBM), a publicly-traded company, engaged in cement, lightweight building materials, glass fibre and fibre-reinforced plastic products and engineering service businesses. CNBM is currently the largest cement and gypsum board producer in China.

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