Monday 2 September 2013

Charcoal, agricultural produce dominate Nigeria’s export

THE nation’s export between January and May this
year was dominated by charcoal and agricultural
produce, a trade report by Maersk Nigeria Limited
has shown. The report showed that Nigeria’s charcoal export
rose by 76 percent as of May 2013, when
compared to the same period in 2012, and
further attributed the rise in volume to the longer
winter season experienced in Europe. The trade
report which quoted the company’s Managing Director and Head of Central and West Africa
Cluster, Mr. Jan Thorhauge, noted that finished
product import rose by 39 percent during the
same period due to major manufacturing firms
streamlining their production activities by making
Nigeria their main production hub for the region. Thorhauge said that containerised import market
to Nigeria was estimated to have ended at
approximately 159,000 FFE (40-foot equivalent
units), as compared with the same period in
2012, which produced an estimated volume of
155,000 FFE, representing a relatively marginal year on year growth of around two percent. The
Maersk boss also said that the Eastern Nigerian
market, maintained its superior performance over
the western part of the country, in terms of
growth in volume ratio with a year on year growth
ratio of 10 percent on import and one percent on export. Thorhauge said that Maersk Line maintained its
position as the leading shipping line in Nigeria,
and combined with its sister company Safmarine,
commanded an estimated 37 percent share of the
import market and 28 percent on the export
market. “Not much has changed as the containerised
market in Nigeria continues to be strongly
dominated by imports, and for the last six years,
the import/export ratio has remained at around
92 percent import versus eight percent export”. According to Thorhauge, most of the country’s
containerised cargoes come from the Far East,
mostly China, while most of its export
commodities have been going to Europe. “The sourcing patterns have not changed
fundamentally in the last six years, though
imports from Europe and Middle East have
experienced significant increase in the last two
years. Major products coming from the Middle
East are industrial raw materials, chemicals, electronics, iron and steel and tyres, while from
Europe, major products include industrial raw
materials, frozen fish and cars,” he said. The increased sourcing pattern can be attributed
to better pricing from these regions, increase in
the age limits of imported automobiles from 5
years to 10 years, increased construction as well
as growing demands for finished products by the
Nigerian populace. He also said that Nigeria’s export ratio can be
enhanced if the government is able to improve on
infrastructure, such as power supply, road
network and rail services. The dominant items imported into the country,
according to Thorhauge, have remained the same
over the past six years and are made up of
traditional commodities such as cars, electronics,
construction materials, food items, chemicals,
electrical fittings, machinery and paper among other goods covering industrial as well as private
needs. “We are quite optimistic that the import market in
Nigeria will grow by about 6-8 percent for the
second half of 2013. The export market is subject
to harvest conditions and global market prices,
but we foresee an increase of about eight percent
for the rest of the year.

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