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By Valentine Amanze
The management of African Steel Limited has said that its steel factory in Ikorodu Lagos is running full capacity contrary to the media report that it was shutdown by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
African Steel Limited made the clarification in a statement issued by Ravi Sharma, a director.
It attributed the report to the handiwork of some competitors who thrive in gaining advantage through unfair business practices.
It however explained that officials of the SON recently visited the premises of African Steel, Ikorodu in the course of their regulatory oversight, took inventory of already manufactured steel products and took samples for further regulatory processes with proper documentation.
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The company said that it was aware that similar regulatory steps were undertaken by SON to the premises of other steel manufacturers across the country, stressing, “At no time did SON officials shut down the African Steel Limited premises in Ikorodu.”
“The African Steel Limited is a member of the African Industries Group, which commits to the highest ethical standards in all its operations in Nigeria and across the globe.
“We therefore assure our numerous customers of quality products at all times and advise them to ignore the untrue publications,” it said.
It also assured of the Group’s commitment to upholding the highest standards of its manufactured products and providing services that conform with all regulatory requirements in view of its huge investment in the Nigerian economy which includes an integrated iron ore mining, processing and steel production plant located in Kajuru, Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, with a capital outlay in the region of $600 million.
When contacted on the issue, the SON Director, Product Certification, Mr. Enebi Onucheyo, corroborated the African Steel narrative, stating that neither the facility of the company nor those of any other Steel manufacturer were shut down in the latest exercise.
“Rather, we carried out spot inspections, took inventories and samples, then put the products on hold with proper documentation to enable us conduct laboratory tests and analysis in order to arrive at informed conclusions in line with our organisation’s standards operating procedure”, he said.
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