CCNN seeks N45bn to expand cement production

The Cement Company of Northern Nigeria has said that it needs N45bn to expand its line of production.

The Managing Director of the company, Mr. Alf Karlsen, disclosed this when a team of post-privatisation monitors from the Bureau of Public Enterprises visited the company.

A statement, signed by the BPE spokesman, Mr. Chukwuma Nwokoh, quoted Karlsen as saying that the CCNN planned to increase its production “from 329,000 tonnes in 2010 to 600,000 tonnes per annum within the next few years.”

He also disclosed that plans were ongoing to seek the authorisation of the company’s shareholders to raise the needed N45bn through a combination of convertible debenture, rights issue and public offer to finance a new one million clinker production line.

He said if approved, the production line would be completed and inaugurated in 2014.

Karlsen noted that the expansion was being undertaken to ensure that the CCNN, which was fully privatised in the year 2000, remained a competitive cement manufacturer in the country.

He said production was 57,000 tonnes in 2001, adding that the workforce had increased from 292 in 2002 to 359 in 2010.

He explained that the company’s supply chain could not be extended beyond the northern parts of the country due to the high cost of transportation.

The CCNN boss added that the company had spent N7.5bn to upgrade existing production facilities and for investment in fixed assets.

He added that the company had embarked on further upgrading of the plants, noting that “towards this end, a new girth gear for one of the cement mills has been ordered at the cost of N110m, while another roto packer has been ordered at a cost of N225m.

To tackle the challenges associated with the Low Pour Fuel Oil supply, Karlsen disclosed that the board had approved an investment of N2.4bn for the conversion of coal or ‘pet coke’ to kiln fuel.