Nigeria Spends N1.5trn On Raw Materials Imports In Six Months

Nigeria imported raw materials worth N1.51 trillion in the first six months of 2021 (H1 2021).

A breakdown in the Foreign Trade Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that importation of raw materials into the country in the first quarter of the year (Q1 2021) gulped N669.2 billion while that of the second quarter (Q2 2021) stood at N840.50 billion, totaling N1.509 trillion for the half year (H1 2021).

The value of the imported raw materials represents 93.38 percent of the value of total trade in raw materials which stood at N1.62 trillion in H1 2021.

However, the raw materials imports represent only 10.93 percent when compared to total merchandise imports in H1 2021 which stood at N13.8 trillion.

Specifically, in terms of imports in Q1 2021, cane sugar worth N88.9 billion was imported from Brazil, Mixtures of Odoriferous substance valued at N15.5 billion and N8.0 billion were imported from Ireland and Swaziland, while Milk preparation worth N18.4 billion and N7.8 billion were imported from Ireland and Malaysia during the period under review.

For Q2 2021, cane sugar worth N113.71 billion was imported from Brazil and Diammonium hydrogen valued at N35.82 billion was imported from Morocco. Milk preparations valued at N25.03 billion and N3.35 billion were imported from Ireland and Malaysia.

Other products imported under this sector were Mixtures of Odoriferous substances worth N13.05 billion, N9.43 billion and N3.40 billion imported from Ireland, Swaziland and Spain during the period under review.

The value of the imported raw materials in H1 2021 is 71.9 percent higher when compared year-on-year (YoY) with the N877.9 billion spent on importation of raw materials in H1 2020. The increase (in H1 2021) is however lower when compared with the N1.426 trillion spent on raw materials imports in H2 2020, representing only 5.8 percent rise.

The importation of raw materials into the country in Q1 2020 stood at N307.3 billion; Q2 2020 was N570.6 billion; Q3 2020 was N710.2 billion; while the value for Q4 2020 was N715.7 billion.