Nigeria’s raw material imports gulp N2.32trn, rise 73% in 2020

Nigeria’s raw material imports gulp N2.32trn, rise 73% in 2020

Despite restrictions coming from Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, imports of raw materials into Nigeria rose by 73 per cent to N2.32 trillion last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic from N1.34 trillionn in 2019, according to data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The NBS said in its latest Foreign Trade Statistics report that the value of total trade in raw material stood at N762.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020.

It said the import component was valued at N715.7 billion while the export component stood at N46.9 billion.

“The value of raw material imports grew marginally by 0.75 per cent in Q4 2020 compared to Q3 2020 but was 113.12 per cent higher compared to Q4 2019. For 2020, the value of raw material imports was 72.5 per cent higher than the value recorded in 2019,” the statistics office said.

According to the report, the value of raw material goods exports in Q4 was 317.6 per cent higher than the value in Q3 and 122 per cent higher than the value recorded in Q4 2019.

“In 2020, the value of raw material goods exports was only 0.7 per cent higher than the value recorded in 2019,” it said.

The NBS said during the fourth quarter, urea was exported to Brazil, at a value of N11.2 billion.

It said this was followed by leather (further prepared after tanning) exported to Spain, India and Italy and valued at N2.4 billion, N2.1 billion and N1.9 billion respectively.

Ammonium sulphate valued at N3.3 billion was also exported to Brazil, according to the report.

The NBS said, “In terms of imports, cane sugar worth N102.5 billion was imported from Brazil, followed by preparations for infant use imported from China and the United Kingdom valued at N16.7 billion and N12.8 billion respectively.

“Other products imported under this category were mixtures of odoriferous substance, imported from Swaziland and Ireland and valued at N15.9 billion and N13.1 billion respectively. In addition, milk preparation valued at N10.3 billion was imported from Ireland while other glutamic acid and its salts worth N10.4 billion were imported from China.”