Economy
Petrol Importation Gulps N1.199trn in Three Months
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria spent N1.199 trillion on the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, in three months, between July and September 2022, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the third quarter of 2022, disclosed that fuel import for the period July to September 2022 jumped by 16.9 per cent compared with N1.026 trillion spent to import the commodity in the same period in 2021.
The NBS revealed that in the third quarter of 2022, the petrol importation bill was the highest in recent times, compared to N883.565 billion, N371.8 billion, and N532.615 billion spent to import the commodity in the same quarter in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively.
The statistics agency noted that petrol imports accounted for 21.2 per cent of Nigeria’s total imports in the third quarter of 2022, compared to 7.7 per cent of total imports in the same quarter in 2021; while in the third quarter of 2020, 2019 and 2018, fuel import accounted for 7.7 per cent, 7.0 per cent, 9.5 per cent and 20.97 per cent, respectively.
Nigeria’s total imports, according to the NBS, in the third quarter of 2022 was N5.664 trillion, compared with N13.241 trillion, while total imports in the same quarter in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively, were N4.214 trillion, N3.899 trillion, and N7.593 trillion.
Furthermore, the NBS disclosed that premium motor spirit ranked top among Nigeria’s total imports in the quarter under review, followed by gas oil with N261.595 billion spent on its importation, accounting for 4.62 per cent of total import; while durum wheat imports gulped N252.621 billion, ranking as the third most imported commodity, and accounting for 4.42 per cent of total imports.
Kerosine-type jet fuel, also known as aviation fuel, ranked fourth, as it gulped N93.032 billion of Nigeria’s foreign exchange, accounting for 1.64 per cent of total imports; while used vehicles imports accounted for 1.60 per of total imports, with N90.776 billion, making it to rank the fifth most imported commodity.
Other high-ranking imports were motorcycles, with N59.856 billion, accounting for 1.06 per cent of total imports; filters accounted for 1.05 per cent of total imports, with N59.322 billion; while medicaments import gulped N48.74 billion and accounted for 0.86 per cent of total imports.
Polypropylene import accounted for 0.77 per cent of total imports, with N43.524 billion; gas turbine parts accounted for 0.67 per cent of total imports, with N38.073 billion, while lubricating oil import gulped N33.933 billion, accounting for 0.66 per cent of total import for the third quarter of 2022.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Thursday, December 12 after it ended the trading session with no single price gainer or loser.
As a result, the market capitalisation remained unchanged at N1.055 trillion as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) followed the same route, remaining at 3,012.50 points like the previous trading session.
However, the activity chart witnessed changes as the volume of securities traded at the bourse went down by 92.5 per cent to 447,905 units from the 5.9 million units transacted a day earlier.
In the same vein, the value of securities bought and sold by investors declined by 86.6 per cent to N3.02 million from the N22.5 million recorded in the preceding trading day.
But the number of deals carried out during the session remained unchanged at 21 deals, according to data obtained by Business Post.
When trading activities ended for the day, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 billion, Okitipupa Plc came next with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc was in third place with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N14.79 or 0.9 per cent to trade at N1,534.50/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,549.29/$1 on Thursday, December 12.
The strengthening of the domestic currency during the trading session was influenced by the introduction of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN; publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira at the official market.
Equally, the local currency improved its value against the British Pound Sterling by N3.91 to wrap the session at N1,954.77/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,958.65/£1 and against the Euro, the Nigerian currency gained N2.25 to sell for N1,610.41/€1 versus N1,612.66/€1.
However, in the black market, the Naira crashed further against the US Dollar on Thursday by N10 to quote at N1,680/$1 compared with Wednesday’s closing rate of N1,670/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market majorly corrected after earlier gains as US President-elect Donald Trump reiterated his ambition to embrace crypto assets, but a bond market rout dragged risk assets lower.
Mr Trump said, “We’re going to do something great with crypto” while ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, reiterating his ambition to embrace digital assets in the world’s largest economy and create a strategic bitcoin reserve.
Alongside, the European Central Bank trimmed its benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points and in its dovish policy statement hinted that more rate cuts were likely to happen.
The biggest loss was made by Cardano (ADA), which fell by 4.9 per cent to trade at $1.10, followed by Ripple (XRP), which slid by 4.1 per cent to $2.33 and Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded a value depreciation of 2.9 per cent to sell at $0.4064.
Further, Solana (SOL) slumped by 1.8 per cent to $225.89, Binance Coin (BNB) slipped by 1.3 per cent to $746.92, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 0.6 per cent to $99,998.18, Ethereum (ETH) crumbled by 0.5 per cent to $3,909.43, and Litecoin (LTC) dipped by 0.3 per cent to $121.52, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market slumped on Thursday, pressured by an expected increase in supply, supported by rising expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.
The International Energy Agency (EIA) made a slight upward revision to its demand outlook for next year but still expected the oil market to be comfortably supplied, with Brent crude futures losing 11 cents or 0.15 per cent to trade at $73.41 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declining by 27 cents or 0.38 per cent to finish at $70.02 per barrel.
The IEA in its monthly oil market report increased its 2025 global oil demand growth forecast to 1.1 million barrels per day from 990,000 barrels per day last month, largely in Asian countries due to the impact of China’s recent stimulus measures.
At the same time, the IEA expects nations not in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Allies (OPEC+) group to boost supply by about 1.5 million barrels per day next year, driven by the US, Canada, Guyana, Brazil and Argentina – more than the rate of demand growth.
On Wednesday, OPEC cut its demand growth forecast for 2024 for the fifth straight month.
The IEA said that, even excluding the return to higher output quotas, its current outlook is to a 950,000 barrels per day supply overhang next year, which is almost 1 per cent of the world’s supply.
The Paris-based agency said this would rise to 1.4 million barrels per day if OPEC+ goes ahead with its plan to start unwinding cuts from the end of next March.
Next year’s surplus could make it harder for OPEC+ to bring back production. The hike was earlier due to start in October 2024, but OPEC+ has delayed it amid falling prices.
Meanwhile, inflation rose slightly in November increasing the possibility of a US Federal Reserve rates cut again as the data fed optimism about economic growth and energy demand.
Support also came as crude imports in China grew annually for the first time in seven months in November, up more than 14 per cent from a year earlier.
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