$650m lost to importation of steel – Minister

To promote import substitution and local content, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has challenged stakeholders in the industry to export steel and iron bars to neighbouring West African and North African countries.
The Minister in charge, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, explained that the move would save Nigeria about $650million spent on importation of the products.
“Our key target in the mining industry is steel, and we will give them all the necessary support to begin to produce iron ore,” he said.
To deepen local sourcing and investments in the steel sector, the minister charged operators to invest in the sector’s upstream by mining, rather than depending on scraps alone for production.
A stakeholder, Mr. Alok Gupta, urged operators to explore the export market, having satisfied the domestic market demand for construction with steel and iron bars.
Gupta added that by making inroads into countries like Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Morocco, among others, the operators were saving the country huge foreign exchange hitherto spent on the importation of steel into the country.
He said, “We have been exporting non-steel products to regional markets for many years. However, our steel products had to compete with big produces from Ukraine, Russia, China and other developed countries. Our constant effort in marketing, backed by international certification and satisfied products sampling by user, made it acceptable in these market.
“Recent adjustment of naira has made our products more competitive to the extent that a significant amount of our production is now destined for export. We are targeting to export between 150,000 – 200,000 metric tonnes of steel on an annual basis to start with. Our export of steel during the first nine months of this year has increased over three folds by weight and value compared to last year.”
The President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Frank Jacob, applauded the export feats of operators, saying, “In spite of the harsh operating environment, they are able to produce, export and earn forex for the country. I congratulate them.”
The Group Executive Director, African Industries Group, Mr. Uche Iwuamadi, said, “In the past, many people were importing steel into this country; nobody talks about that because imported steel cannot compete with our own. We have the same standard now; so you don’t need to waste your money importing steel.”