At 50%, Chemstar intensifies local sourcing of raw materials

Despite the myriads of challenges discouraging investments from both local and foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the manufacturing sector, Chemstar Paints Industry Nigeria Limited has expressed confidence in achieving a profitable financial year as a result of improved local sourcing.

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Chemstar Paints Industry Nigeria Limited, Aderemi Awode, said like other sectors of the economy affected by the economic downturn, slow pace in the nation’s construction and property development sectors continues to affect the paint industry.

Awode at the firm’s 2019 customer forum said the firm has also started looking inwards to source most of its raw materials locally, saying that in the past two years, it has been able to cut down its dependence on imports of raw materials for production to 50 per cent.

In his words, “In 2015, about 80 per cent by value of our raw materials for paint production was imported from abroad, but that has come down particularly for us by 50 per cent within two years; and courtesy of our functional research and development laboratory, we are trying to reduce that even further.”

“The essence of this forum is to reward our customers because we realize that it is not easy selling paint and also realize that our customers put extra effort into ensuring that they push our products to the end users. We thought that it will be nice to have a forum to appreciate and celebrate our customers.”

While commending the present administration for providing basic infrastructure for businesses to thrive, he stated that the state of infrastructure is still a far cry from what is required to achieve positive impact in the nation’s real sector.
He reaffirmed the company’s commitment to producing innovative and affordable products to meet the changing needs of its loyal customers and distributors across the country.

Also speaking at the event, the General Manager, Sales and Marketing, Chemstar Paints Industry Nigeria Limited, Fola Laguda, said going forward, the company has restructured into five regions to get closer and respond swiftly to demands and supply for its products.

The event also saw distributors being rewarded with mouth watering gift items such as deep freezers, generators, home theatre systems, TV decoders and other gift items.