Abuja Building Material Traders Lament High Cost, Low Patronage

Building materials traders in Abuja, on Sunday expressed concern over the high cost of building materials that have led to low patronage.

The traders, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), attributed the high cost of building materials on the current inflation rate in the country.

Mr Joseph Owuwa, a tiler and trader on doors, told NAN that people were no longer building houses because of the outrageous cost of materials.

Owuwa said that the high rate of dollars had added to the high cost of these materials that one could hardly afford.

“An average Nigerian struggles with high standard of living and cannot afford the money to build a house.

“Some industries in Nigeria produce ceramics and tiles but the chemicals are imported from other countries, this contributes to the increase in the prices of building materials.

“The decline in number of people building houses has affected the business because of low rate of purchase of these materials, “ he said.

 Mr Luke Eze, a trader on tiles, said that the rising inflation led to the fluctuation in the prices the materials.

“Currently we sell floor tiles (40×40) for N2,500 per metre, as against N1, 800 per metre, which was sold last year. The price increase is also depended on the measurements and type, “ he said.

Mr Chimeze Ndubueze, a paint seller at Dei-Dei market, said that as long as dollars continued to increase, prices of building materials would increase.

Ndubueze listed other factors which contributed to the increase in materials to include fuel, transportation and taxes.

He said that since the rate at which people built houses had reduced, the demand for materials had also reduced.

Ndubueze said that 20kg of Finecoat paint now sold for N3,500, as against N2, 200; Peacock costs N25,000 as against N15, 000 and Berger rose to N40,000 as against N30,000.

He said that the same was for cement, POP cement and other materials.

Mr Chukwuma Obianumba, a trader on blocks, said that even with the hard economic situation, Nigerians were still building houses but opted for less expensive materials.

“Some civil engineers or builders produce blocks themselves rather than buy from block industries to reduce costs,” he said. (NAN) 

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