{
  "id": 19772078,
  "title": "Can manufacturers keep passing costs to consumers?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/can-manufacturers-keep-passing-costs-to-consumers",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-11-13T07:26:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Nairametrics",
    "slug": "nairametrics",
    "url": "https://nairametrics.com/2026/11/13/can-manufacturers-keep-passing-costs-to-consumers/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Manufacturers have the option of either passing on increased costs to consumers or absorbing them themselves. In 2025, some Nigerian manufacturers managed to cope with higher prices, while others increased their profit margins as the goods they sold became cheaper. Dangote Cement, BUA Foods, HBM Nigeria, and International Breweries are examples of companies that reported increased sales and reduced costs in the first nine months of 2025 and 2026, respectively. Consequently, their net profit per N100 of sales rose from N48 to N53.\n\nDespite having more room to charge higher prices, cement manufacturers found that consumers continued to buy their products even at higher prices. Dangote's Nigerian business experienced increased revenue per tonne in 2025, suggesting that the market could bear higher prices this year. However, it remains unclear how much of the price increase reached the factory or how much covered the cost of production and delivery.\n\nThe ability of local producers to raise prices was tested when cheaper imported palm oil became available, making it harder for them to maintain higher prices. Similarly, Nigerian Breweries raised prices to offset inflation in 2025, but Heineken reported selling fewer bottles of beer in Nigeria in the third quarter of 2026, indicating that demand remained under pressure. The next price increase may result in higher profits per bottle, but it remains uncertain how many bottles customers will still purchase.\n\nIn 2026, manufacturers such as BUA Foods, Dangote Sugar, and NASCON demonstrated that better margins can lead to higher sales without necessarily increasing the price paid by consumers. However, the next round of price increases remains uncertain, and it is more advisable for manufacturers to focus on selling more while maintaining control over costs. The most promising route to higher earnings per share is to show that customers are still buying, costs are under control, and a larger portion of sales revenue is reaching shareholders as profit.",
  "summary": "When a bag of cement or a tin of milk costs more, the buyer has a choice: pay the new price, buy less or switch to something cheaper. The manufacturer has a choice too: raise the price and risk losing sales, or absorb the higher cost and keep less from each sale. In 2025, higher […] The post Can manufacturers keep passing costs to consumers? appeared first on Nairametrics .",
  "key_points": [
    "Some Nigerian manufacturers absorbed higher costs while others increased profit margins in 2025.",
    "Dangote Cement reported increased sales and reduced costs in the first nine months of 2025 and 2026."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The ability to maintain high margins depends on balancing price hikes against consumer demand and cheaper imports to ensure that volume sales do not collapse under inflationary pressures.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}