Economy
Crude Oil Accounts for 74.45% of Nigeria’s Exports in Q1 2019
By Dipo Olowookere
It seems efforts by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to diversify the nation’s economy so as to stop the heavy reliance on crude oil as Nigeria’s major exports are not yielding any meaningful results.
This is because the commodity is still the main driver of the economy despite attempts to make the non-oil industry contribute significantly to revenue generated.
Last week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics for the first quarter of 2019, but the figures showed that much of the trades carried out by the Africa’s largest economy was still in the oil sector.
According to the stats office, Nigeria’s export in the first quarter of this year was still oil dependent, with exports trade dominated by crude oil exports, which contributed N3.377 trillion or 74.45 percent to the value of total exports in Q1, 2019.
However, the non-oil products accounted for 25.55 percent of total exports in the quarter under review.
In Q1 2019, Nigeria exported most products to Europe, Asia and Africa equivalent to N1.833 trillion or 40.43 percent of total exports, N1.325 trillion or 29.2 percent and N936.8 billion or 20.67 percent respectively.
Furthermore, Nigeria exported goods worth N405.8 billion or 8.95 percent to the Americas and N34.5 billion or 0.76 percent to Oceania.
Within Africa, Nigeria exported goods valued at N300.6 billion to ECOWAS member states, representing 32.08 percent of total merchandise exports to Africa.
By country of destination, Nigeria exported goods mainly to India, Spain, Netherlands, South Africa and France, valued at N745.0 billion or 16.43 percent, N487.1 billion or 10.74 percent, N405.4 billion or 8.9 percent, N325.5 billion or 7.2 percent and N302.3 billion or 6.7 percent respectively.
In the report, the NBS said the total trade recorded in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2019 grew by 2.50 percent when compared with what was achieved in the fourth quarter of and by 7.52 percent as against the corresponding quarter in 2018.
In the period under consideration, the country’s total exports was recorded at N4.535 trillion, which represents a 1.78 percent rise compared with the fourth quarter of 2018 but a 3.9 percent fall compared to the first quarter of 2018.
Similarly, the value of total imports increased to N3.704 trillion, representing an increase of 3.39 percent relative to Q4 2018 and 29.84 percent compared with Q1 2018.
It further stated that the trade balance of Nigeria remained positive at N831.6 billion in the first quarter of this year, boosted by increase in both exports and imports, with the boost also helped total trade increase to N8.239 trillion.
A breakdown of the imports showed that imported agricultural products were 7.98 percent higher in value than in Q4 2018, and 28.1 percent higher than in Q1, 2018, while the value of raw material imports grew 6.62 percent more than the value recorded in Q4, 2018 and 20.76 percent more than the value recorded in Q1 2018.
Also, the value of solid minerals imports was 1.26 percent more than the value of imports in Q4, 2018 and 35.90 percent higher than the value recorded in Q1 2018, while the value of energy goods imports was 20.28 percent lower than in Q4, 2018. Compared with the corresponding quarter of 2018, a decrease of 0.94 percent was recorded.
In the report analysed by Business Post, the stats office said the value of imported manufactured goods increased by 25.81 percent in Q1, 2019 against the value recorded in Q4, 2018 and rose by 130.7 percent against its value in Q1, 2018. The increase in value of imported manufactured goods was partly as a result of the importation of hygienic/ pharmaceutical product for humanitarian purposes during the quarter.
In addition, the value of other oil products imported was 58.4 percent lower than in Q4, 2018 and 72.71 percent lower than the corresponding quarter of 2018.
For the exports, the value of agricultural exports in Q1 2019 was 11.89 percent lower than in Q4, 2018 but 17.5 percent higher than Q1 2018.
The value of raw material exports in Q1, 2019 was 10.67 percent lower than the value in Q4, 2018 but 11.57 percent higher than in Q1 2018.
The value of solid minerals exports increased by 16.88 percent relative to Q4 2018 but decreased by 66.6 percent compared to the corresponding quarter in 2018.
The exports of energy goods decreased in value by 1.3 percent compared to Q4, 2018 but increased by 2.17 percent when compared with Q1 2018.
The value of manufactured goods exports rose by 511.19 percent in Q1 2019 when compared with the value recorded in Q4 2018 and 6.43 percent compared to the corresponding quarter in 2018. The increase in export during the quarter was due to the re-export of vessels and other floating structures during the quarter, amongst other high value re-exports.
The value of crude oil exports in Q1 2019 was 7.78 percent lower than in Q4 2018 and 5.67 percent lower than in Q1 2018.
The value of other oil products exports decreased by 1.42 percent compared to Q4 2018, and 1.44 percent compared to Q1 2018.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Okitipupa Plc was the sole price gainer at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, August 7, lifting the trading platform by 0.44 per cent at the close of transactions.
The share price of the palm oil producer appreciated during the trading session by N25.00 or 9.0 per cent to N277.00 per unit compared with the previous day’s N252.00 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation gained N12.29 billion to close at N2,807 trillion, in contrast to the previous session’s N2.795 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) added 93.63 points to finish at 4,678.08 points compared with Thursday’s 4,657.59 points.
The bourse recorded a price loser yesterday, and this was Mass Telecoms Innovation Plc, which crashed by 3 Kobo or 9.4 per cent to settle at 32 Kobo per share versus the previous day’s 35 Kobo per share.
The volume of securities traded by investors plunged by 81.5 per cent to 535,7560 units from 2.9 million units, the value of securities slumped by 93.9 per cent to N6.0 million from N99.2 million, and the number of deals decreased by 41.9 per cent to 36 deals from 62 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 77.0 million units exchanged for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.15 per cent growth was achieved by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, driven by continued buying interest in banking stocks such as First Holdco and others.
The banking index was up by 1.53 per cent during the session, offsetting the losses recorded by the others. The industrial goods segment fell by 0.37 per cent, the insurance counter shrank by 0.21 per cent, and the energy sector contracted by 0.04 per cent, while the consumer goods space closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) moved up by 364.26 points to 245,573.60 points from 245,209.34 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N235 billion to N158.513 trillion from N158.278 trillion.
Despite the gains printed by Customs Street during the trading day, investor sentiment was weak, as there were 22 price gainers and 24 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UPDC surged by 9.23 per cent to N3.55, CWG soared by 6.56 per cent to N19.50, AXA Mansard appreciated by 4.80 per cent to N13.10, Neimeth advanced by 4.24 per cent to N8.60, and Cutix improved by 4.00 per cent to N2.60.
Conversely, Red Star Express lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N18.00, CAP declined by 9.98 per cent to N115.45, John Holt shrank by 9.82 per cent to N10.10, ABC Transport depreciated by 9.57 per cent to N5.20, and Legend Internet crashed by 8.70 per cent to N4.20.
A total of 1.5 billion equities worth N26.7 billion exchanged hands in 42,580 deals on Friday versus the 531.8 million equities valued at N20.5 billion traded in 44,826 deals on Thursday, representing a spike in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 182.06 per cent, 30.24 per cent, and 5.01 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock during the session was Fortis Global Insurance, with a turnover of 824.5 million units valued at N2.1 billion, FCMB traded 217.9 million units worth N2.8 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 176.2 million units for N4.7 billion, Chams sold 32.5 million units worth N132.1 million, and First Holdco transacted 25.0 million units valued at N3.7 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further closed south against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, August 7, by 81 Kobo or 0.06 per cent to N1,365.69/$1 from N1,364.88/$1.
It was a similar situation for the Nigerian Naira in the official market during the session as against the Pound Sterling; it lost N1.08 to quote at N1,839.17 versus the previous day’s N1,838.09/£1, and against the Euro, it slipped by N1.23 to close at N1,575.73/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,574.80/€1.
Further, at the GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency weakened against the Dollar yesterday by N2 to settle at N1,371/$1 compared with Thursday’s N1,369/$1, and at the black market, it traded flat at N1,400/$1.
The country’s legal tender came under FX demand pressure on Friday, with turnover rising by 304.3 per cent to $399.5 million from $98.8 million the previous day, with the number of deals slightly up to 107 from 106.
Next week, traders expect the Naira to hold steady, buoyed by dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), whose presence in the market could help ease demand pressure.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) neared the $65,000-mark after it gained 0.8 per cent to trade at $64,968.05, as investors took advantage of recent drops to shore up their holdings.
Previously, the decision by the US Senate to delay a vote on the Crypto Clarity Act until at least September weakened the outlook. The bill, which would set out which US regulator oversees which digital assets, needs 60 votes to pass and it is unclear whether it currently has 50.
Solana (SOL) grew by 2.5 per cent to $74.81, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 1.3 per cent to $0.0702, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 1.1 per cent to $593.80, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 0.5 per cent to $1,916.08, Ripple (XRP) also soared by 0.5 per cent to $1.03, and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3275.
However, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.0 per cent to $0.1997, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
