By Omoh Gabriel
Nigeria spent a total of N231.493 billion on importation of petrol, rice, wheat, stockfish, crude palm oil and frozen fish between April and June 2015. A report released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that N140.52 billion was spent on the importation of motor spirit called petrol while the sum of N25.37 billion was spent on importation of rice.
According to the statistics, wheat importation gulp a total of N19.336 billion while frozen cod or stock fish took from the nation’s external reserve the sum of N13.134 billion in the second quarter of 2015. Nigeria according to the report spent N11.04 billion in the importation of Crude palm oil. Frozen Mackerel or fish cost the nation about N10.864 billion to import into the country between April and June 2015.
It will be recalled the CBN banned some of these items from accessing foreign exchange from the Nigerian foreign exchange market. The Central Bank of Ni¬geria (CBN) had said its decision to bar 41 prod¬ucts from having access to the forex window was aimed at encouraging local production of products, where the country has comparative advantage. The CBN had in a circular re¬leased by the Trade and Exchange Department of the apex bank, reference no: TED/FEM/FPC/ GEN/01/010 and addressed to the general public/authorised dealers with the subject: ‘‘Inclu¬sion of Some Imported Goods and Services on the List of Items not Valid for Foreign Exchange in the Foreign Exchange Mar¬ket’’, explained that the move was aimed at sustaining the sta¬bility of the forex market. The circular, which was signed by the Director of Trade and Exchange Department, Mr. Olukanmi Gbadamosi, said the initiative was also part of measures to ensure the efficient utilisation of foreign exchange and the derivation of optimum benefit from goods and services imported into the country.
The circular said it had be¬come imperative to exclude importers of some goods and services from accessing foreign exchange at the Nigerian for¬eign exchange market in order to encourage local production of these items. Some of the prohibited items from foreign exchange window include rice, cement, margarine, palm kernel/palm oil products/ vegetable oils, meat and pro¬cessed meat products, veg¬etables and processed vegetable products, poultry-chicken, eggs and turkey. Others are tinned fish in sauce (Geisha/sardines), private airplanes/jets, cold rolled steel sheets, galvanised steel sheets, roofing sheets, wheelbarrows, head pans, metal boxes and containers, enamelware, steel drums, steel pipes, wire rods (de¬formed and non-deformed), iron rods and reinforcing bars, wire mesh, steel nails, security and razor wire, wood particle boards and panels, wood fibre boards and panels, plywood boards and panels and wooden doors.
National Bureau of Statistics in its report said “The value of Nigeria’s imports stood at ₦1.4932 triillion during second quarter of 2015, a decrease of 13.6 per cent from the value of ₦1.7277 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter. Year-on-year analysis showed that import trade was lower by ₦484.0 billion or 24.5 per cent.
“When classified by Section, the structure of Nigeria’s import trade was dominated by the import of “Boilers, machinery and appliances; parts thereof” which accounted for N356.0 billion or 23.8 per cent of the total value of imports between April and June, 2015. Other commodities which contributed significantly to the value of imports in the review period were “Mineral products” at N173.9 billion or 11.6%, “Products of the chemical and allied industries” at N155.2 billion or 10.4 per cent, “Vehicles, aircraft and parts thereof; vessels etc.” at N152.9 billion or 10.2%, and “Base metals and articles of base metals” at N132.8 billion or 8.9% of the total quarterly imports respectively.
“Imports classified by Broad Economic Category revealed that “Industrial Supplies (nec)” ranked first with an import value of ₦433.6billion or 29.0% of the second quarter total. This was followed by “Capital Goods and parts of”, with the value of ₦342.2 billion or 22.9 per cent, and “Food and Beverage” with ₦290.4billion or 19.4 per cent of total imports. Motor spirit remained the product with the greatest import value, at ₦140.5 billion*, or 9.4 per cent of the total Q2 2015 bill. Nigeria imported goods mostly from China, United States, India, Belgium and Netherlands, which respectively accounted for ₦336.5 billion or 22.5%, ₦143.6billion or 9.6%, ₦115.4billion or 7.7 per cent, ₦83.4billion or 5.6 per cent and ₦ 80.9billion or 5.4 per cent of the total value of goods imported during the quarter. By Continent, Nigeria consumed goods largely from Asia, with an import value of ₦665.7 billion or 44.6% of the quarterly total. The country also imported goods valued at ₦502.3 billion or 33.6% of the total from Europe, and ₦210.1 billion or 14.1 per cent of the total from The Americas. Imports from Africa stood at ₦97.8 billion or 6.5 per cent of total imports, while imports from the region of ECOWAS amounted to ₦39.0 billion, 39.9% of total African imports.
NBS further said “The total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade during the second quarter of 2015, was recorded at ₦4.3724 triillion. This was 0.5 per cent less than the value of ₦4.3927 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter. In comparison with the corresponding quarter of 2014, the value of the total merchandise trade decreased by ₦2.2870 trillion or 34.3 per cent. Relative to the preceding quarter, a rise of ₦214.1 billion or 8.0%, in the value of exports combined with a decline of ₦234.4 billion or 13.6 per cent, in the value of imports improved the country’s trade balance, which increased by 47.9 per cent or ₦448.6 billion during the quarter. Year on year, the country’s trade balance declined by 48.8 per cent as imports declined by 24.5 per cent whilst exports declined even further by 38.5 per cent.
“Exports Classified by Standard International Trade Classification and Destination
The value of Nigeria’s exports totalled ₦2.8792 trillion in Q2, 2015, an increase of
₦214.1billion or 8.0 per cent over the value recorded in the preceding quarter, yet a decline of ₦1.8030 billion or 38.5 per cent year on year. The structure of the exports is still dominated by Crude Oil exports, which contributed ₦2,121.4 billion or 73.7% to the value of total domestic exports in Q2 of 2015. Natural Liquefied Gas was the product with the second greatest export value, recording ₦260.7 billion or 9.1% of the total export value during the period under review.
“Exports classified by section revealed that Nigeria exported mainly “Mineral Products”, which accounted for ₦2,514.7 billion or 87.3% of the total export value in Q2 of 2015. Other products exported by Nigeria include “Vehicles, aircraft and parts thereof; vessels etc.” at ₦250.6 billion or 8.7 per cent, “Vegetable Products” at ₦36.7 billion or 1.3 per cent, and “Prepared foodstuffs; beverages, spirits and vinegar; tobacco” at ₦24.6 billion or 0.9 per cent of the totals respectively. Nigeria exported goods mainly to India, Spain, Netherlands, South Africa and Brazil in the quarter of review, whose values stood at ₦406.1 billion or 14.1 per cent, ₦297.4 billion or 10.3 per cent, ₦296.3 billion or 10.3 per cent, ₦240.9 billion or 8.4 per cent and ₦147.8 billion or 5.1 per cent of the total exports respectively. By continent, Nigeria exported goods mainly to Europe and Asia, which accounted for ₦1,063.0billion or 36.9 per cent and ₦823.8 billion or 28.6 per cent of the total export value respectively during the period under review. Nigeria exported goods valued at ₦554.3 billion or 19.3 per cent to the continent of Africa while export to the ECOWAS region totalled ₦171.1 billion, 30.9 per cent of all exports to Africa”.
