Dangote Cement Reopens Nigeria’s Gboko Plant as Demand Increases

Dangote Cement Plc (DANGCEM), Nigeria’s biggest company by market capitalization, reopened its Gboko plant in the central region of the country as demand increases for the building material.

“We are reopening Gboko immediately,” Carl Franklin, the London-based head of investor relations, said in an e-mailed statement today. “Demand has been strong since the beginning of the year.”

Dangote, Africa’s biggest producer of cement and owned by billionaire Chairman Aliko Dangote, closed the plant last month because cheap, imported cement was being sold in the area served by the unit.

The company, based in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, forecast in August it will more than double total output to 51 million metric tons by 2015 as it expands Nigerian production.