Association of Primary Aluminium Producers of Nigeria has warned property owners not to be carried away by fancy roofing sheets, because they might be fake. They spoke in Abuja, yesterday evening, when members of the body, comprising notable names like First Aluminium Products, Tower Aluminium and Nigerlex, paid a visit to Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Ahmed Gusau. Alleging the dumping of cheap and substandard products from India, China and other Asian countries, because of the tariff structure, leader of the Association, and Managing Director of Nigerlex, Walter Fetzer, said the genuine indigenous aluminium producers were being asphyxiated out of business. Fetzer, who likened the situation of the 15-member association to that of the textile industry, said should they be pushed out of business, about 25,000 workers made up of 5,800 direct employees, and 18,000 indirect ones, would be forced to join the labour market. He said to make matters worse, most contractors use fake letterheads of genuine aluminium roofing sheets manufacturers, quote their prices, but end up supplying very thin roofing sheets that stand the risk of being blown off at the slightest windstorm. "Contractors give quotations from major aluminium companies like us, use our letterheads but give you substandard roofing sheets. We have been confronted with situations like this and we have been able to prove that they did not emanate from us. We are working with Standards Organisation of Nigeria(SON) on this. Our immediate threat is that we are being wiped out," he said. The group noted that Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, (ALSCON), at Ikot Abasi, which should have supplied genuine producers with ingots, export all of their produce, at the detriment of local rolling mills that have to import the raw materials at cut-throat prices. They, therefore, asked to be granted the same concessions that the steel industry enjoys. "ALSCON is our future, but it exports its products 100 per cent," he said, and asked the minister to prevail oo it to consider feeding the home market before exporting. Gusau assured them that government would do something about their plight, saying: "we have the duty to protect you." He announced that a regulation was being put in place and that when the draft was ready, the aluminium manufacturers would be asked to make their input. Gusau lamented that Nigeria imports 800 metric tonnes of aluminium flat sheets per annum.
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