Business
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The National Bureau of Statistics says exports from Nigeria in the second quarter increased by 63 percent
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Sep 19, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT |
THE total value of Nigeria’s export trade increased to N1.873 trillion in the second quarter of 2016. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, this figure represents an increase of N725.6 billion or 63.3 percent, over the value recorded in the preceding quarter. The NBS disclosed this in its foreign trade statistics for second quarter of 2016 that was released on Tuesday, September 6.
According to the NBS, the improvement in export value was largely due to the depreciation in the value of the naira. It, however, pointed out that the structure of the export trade was still dominated by crude oil exports, which contributed N1.493 trillion or 79.7 percent to the value of total domestic export trade in 2016.
Exports by section showed that Nigeria exported mainly mineral products, which accounted for N1.735 trillion or 92.7 percent of the total export value. Other products exported by the country included animal and vegetable fats and oils and other cleavage products at N55.7 billion or three percent. “Base metals and articles of base metals at N28.4 billion or 1.5 percent, and prepared foodstuffs; beverages, spirits and vinegar; and tobacco was at N16.2 billion or 0.9 percent.”
The export by direction showed that the country exported goods mainly to India, United States, Spain, Netherlands and South Africa whose values stood at N402.7 billion or 21.5 percent, N235 billion or 12.5 percent, N215.2 billion or 11.5 percent, N133.3 billion or 7.1 percent, and N119.9 billion or 6.4 percent, respectively. In addition, the natural liquefied gas recorded N198.0 billion of the total export value during the period under review.
Export by continent showed that Nigeria mainly exported goods to Europe and Asia, which accounted for N611.7 billion or 32.7 percent and N606.4 billion or 32.4 percent, respectively of the total export value during the period under review. Furthermore, Nigeria exported goods valued at N265.9 billion or 14.2 percent to other countries in Africa, while export to the ECOWAS region totaled N86.9 billion.
Meanwhile, the total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade in second quarter of 2016 was N3.942 trillion. This was 49 percent more than the N2.645 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter. This development arose from a rise of N725.6 billion or 63.3 percent in the value of exports (largely due to exchange rate gains) combined with a rise of N570.8 billion or 38.1 percent in the value of imports against the levels recorded in the preceding quarter.
The current trade position brought the country’s negative trade balance to N196.5 billion during the period under review. This showed a N154.8 billion reduction in the country’s trade deficit over the previous quarter. This showed that Nigeria’s import trade stood at N2.069 trillion at the end of second quarter of 2016, showing an increase of 38.1 percent from the N1.498 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter.
As with exports, the increase in import value was also traced to a decline in the value of the naira. The structure of Nigeria’s import trade by section was dominated by the imports of boilers, machinery and appliances; parts thereof which accounted for 34.9 percent of the total value of import trade in second quarter of 2016.
Other commodities, which contributed noticeably to the value of import trade during the review period, were mineral products 15.8 percent, vehicles, aircraft and parts thereof; vessels among others 14.7 percent, products of the chemical and allied industries 7.6 percent and base metals and articles of base metals 5.1 percent. “The import trade classified by broad economic category revealed that capital goods and parts ranked first with N663.6 billion or 32.1 percent.
“This was followed by industrial supplies with the value of N421.2 billion or 20.4 percent and transport equipment and parts standing at N356.1 billion or 17.2 percent. The value of motor spirit stood at N296.1 billion. Nigeria’s import trade by direction showed that the country imported goods mostly from China, Netherlands, United States, India and the United Kingdom, which, respectively accounted for N493.5 billion or 23.9 percent, N285.7 billion or 13.8 percent, N199.0 billion or 9.6 percent, N124.9 billion or six percent, and N119.3 billion or 5.8 percent of the total value of goods imported during the quarter,” it stated.
Further analysis of Nigeria’s imports by continent revealed that the country consumed goods largely from Asia with import value of N886.1 billion or 42.8 percent. The country also imported goods valued at N813.9 billion or 39.3 percent from Europe and N255.3 billion or 12.3 percent from America. Import trade from Africa stood at N89.1 billion or 4.3 percent, while imports from the region of ECOWAS amounted to N20.8 billion.
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