By Etuka Sunday
The Dangote’s new Cement tagged 3X is thirty times stronger than cement from other manufacturers in Nigeria, a statement from the Group has said.
The Dangote Cement Plc is the only cement manufacturer in the country producing the high quality 42.5MPA grade, the statement added.
Speaking at the just concluded Public Hearing on Cement quality in Nigeria, Group Managing Director of the Dangote Cement Plc DVG Edwin said the decision to embark on the high quality grade was to help Nigeria stem the tide of collapse building.
He said: “After 28 days, the 32.5 grade gives a strength of 32.5MPA, whereas the 42.5 grade gives a curing of 42.5MPA i.e 30 per cent higher in strength.”
Mr Edwin said in spite of the high quality grade of Dangote Cement, it has not increased its price for the product. “China, the Number one producer of cement in the world is phasing out
the entire 32.5 grade by July. India, the second largest producer of cement phased out 32.5 grade cement 12 years back,” he added.
He questioned why other manufacturers will be producing high grade cement in their Indian factories while producing low grade cement in Nigeria.
The GMD said before 2004 Nigerian businessmen used to produce and import the high grade cement, 42.5MPA. According to him, the phenomenon of collapse building increased astronomically as from 2004 when other manufacturers downgraded their quality to 32.5MPA.
It is estimated that from 1974 to 2010, collapse building had claimed 297 lives.
Worried by the continuing use of the low grade cement, the Standard Organization of Nigeria(SON) penultimate week issued a directive that 52.5R be used for bridges, 42.5R should be used for casting of columns, beams, slabs and making blocks, while the low grade 32.5MPA was restricted to plastering. Speaking at the just concluded Public Hearing, Director General of SON Joseph Ikem Odumodu said the restriction placed on the use of low grade cement is important to mitigate the problem of collapse building in the country.
Contributing, President of the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigerian (CMAN) Engr Joseph Makoju, said the 42.5 grade is superior cement over 32.5 and that Nigeria used to produce and import 42.5 before the coming of 32.5MPA.
The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on the composition and pigmentation of cement in the country led by its chairman Hon Yakubu Dogara last week conducted a Public Hearing aimed at addressing the phenomenon of collapse building in the country.
In his remarks, Hon Dogara had said:” There is no gainsaying the fact that the serial incidence of building collapse in the country has become a source of anxiety.”
Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal had said while declaring the Hearing open that Nigeria would not relent in its effort to unraveling the causes of collapse building in the country.
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