Lagos, Nov 04, 2009 (Daily Trust/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Local cement manufacturers in the country need about 500,000 tonnes of gypsum annually to operate at optimal level, the Managing Director of Flour Mills of Nigeria, Mr Emmanuel Ukpabi has said.

The gypsum is a major raw material in the manufacturing of cement.Ukpabi who spoke in Lagos yesterday regretted that gypsum is not in commercial quantity in Nigeria to meet domestic demands.

He however lauded the Federal Government's approval to cement manufacturers to import gypsum into the country.

He explained that the approval would boost cement production in the country, adding that the development was a welcome idea especially now that the Federal Government had banned the importation of bagged cement.

According to him, it is good that government should initiate policies that will encourage investment to thrive and create employment for the teeming youths.

"The bagged cement trade was only creating revenue and employment for other nations' economy and more also it failed to crash the price of cement in the country," Ukpabi said.

He stated that the ban and importation of gypsum would accelerate production and encourage huge investment to the sector.

He put the annual local production of cement bet-ween 9,000 to 10,000 tonnes while the nation's demand was about 15,000 tonnes in 2008.

<<Daily Trust. Distributed AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). -- 11/05/2009>>