Economy
Price of Foreign Rice Drops as Beans, Garri, Tomatoes Rise
By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
The average price of a kilogram (Kg) of rice (imported high quality sold loose) reduced from N557.98 in June to N552.80 in July 2021, indicating a 0.9 per cent drop.
Data on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Selected Food Prices Watch Report (July 2021), however, revealed that the average cost of the staple grain in the market increased year-on-year by 12.7 per cent as it went from N490.44 a year ago to N552.80 in the period under review.
The food crop similarly witnessed an average price increase in other variations of which it is largely produced across the country.
In the report, the average price of 1kg broken rice, popularly known as Ofada, increased by 1.1 per cent to N477.08 from N472.07 in June, while on a year-on-year basis, it rose by 11.9 per cent from N426.36.
It was disclosed that Lagos State recorded the highest increase in the average cost of 1kg Ofada rice at N844.13, while the lowest was in Nassarawa State at N270.46.
The stats office further said that Nigerians paid N456 to purchase 1kg of medium-grained rice, 1.9 per cent higher than N441.49 it was sold in June and 11.0 per cent higher than the price a year ago.
In Bayelsa State, residents bought the medium-grained rice at N602.57 per kg, the highest in the country, while the lowest price was paid by those living in Adamawa State at N288.67 per kg.
A look at the average price of brown beans in the period under consideration, it stood at N485.44/kg, 3.01 per cent more than N439.22 in June.
The grain recorded the highest average price in Enugu State at N896.32 per kg, while residents of Bauchi State bought it at an average price of N211.4 per kg, the lowest in the country.
Similarly, its alternative, white black-eyed Beans was sold for N444.21/kg, 2.9 per cent higher than N431.79 it was sold a month earlier, while people in Enugu bought the food item at N782.04/kg with residents of Bauchi paying N214.07 for the same measurement.
As for Nigeria’s most popular carbohydrate staple, Garri, the average price of its white variant went up by 1.5 per cent in July to N329.20 per kg from N324.26 per kg in June, with the lowest and highest average cost of the product recorded in Taraba (N208.4) and Ebonyi (N500.96) respectively.
The yellow Garri was relatively sold on average for N347.70 per kg, 2.6 per cent higher than the price a month earlier, while the highest average price stood at N540.47 in Ebonyi and the lowest at N216.28) in Kwara state.
NBS said in the report that the average price of 1kg of yam tuber increased month-on-month by 7.4 per cent to N308.72 in July from N287.54 in June 2021 as Ekiti recorded the highest average price of N532.47 and the lowest in Taraba at N111.98.
As for its alternative, Irish potatoes, the average cost increased to N380.21 from N356.44 within the period as consumers bought it at the highest average price in Bayelsa at N837.24 and lowest in Plateau State at N154.76.
The food price report further said there was a 5.9 per cent rise in the average price of beef (boneless) to N1,660.76 per kg in July from N1,567.26 per kg in the previous month.
The highest average price was in Ebonyi at N2,416.8, while the lowest average cost was in Gombe State at N1,232.95.
According to the report, a litre of groundnut oil was sold on average for N768.81 in July, 5.5 per cent higher than the N728.43 it was sold in the preceding month. However, Kogi State recorded the lowest price at N495.8, while the highest was in Delta State at N1,222.96.
Similarly, the average price for palm oil rose by 4.3 per cent within the reference period from N609.21 per litre to N635.31 per litre in June 2021, while the highest price was in Lagos at N810 and the lowest price in Kwara at N406.67.
In the period under review, the price of 1kg of tomatoes significantly increased by 23.7 per cent to N414.83 from N335.46 in June. Given that tomato farming is predominantly done in the northern part of the country, Adamawa recorded the lowest average price of N102.41, while the highest was in Edo at N836.68.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Five securities pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.72 per cent on Friday, August 14, cutting the market capitalisation by N47.04 billion to N2.689 trillion from N2.727 trillion, and slicing the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 78.37 points to 4,465.83 from 4,532.03 points.
11 Plc led the price decliners yesterday after its price went down by N15.03 to N230.00 per share from N245.03 per share. MRS Oil Plc weakened by N13.20 to N118.80 per unit from N132.00 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc slid by N10.30 to N99.46 per share from N109.76 per share, Okitipupa Plc fell by N6.99 to N270.01 per unit from N277.00 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc dipped by N2.00 to N20.00 per share from N22.00 per share.
Business Post reports that the OTC securities exchange recorded four gainers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which appreciated by N9.85 to N169.85 per unit from N160.00 per unit. IPWA Plc gained 70 Kobo to close at N10.41 per share versus N9.71 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc rose by 4 Kobo to 54 Kobo per unit from 50 Kobo per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc improved by 1 Kobo to N2.06 per share from N2.05 per share.
The volume of trades soared by 64.8 per cent to 3.2 million units from the previous session’s 1.9 million units, the value of transactions jumped by 78.2 per cent to N375.7 million from N210.8 million, and the number of deals surged by 35.3 per cent to 46 deals from 34 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded 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 sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.0 million units exchanged for N5.7 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The dominance of the bears on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was consolidated on Friday, after further inflicting an 0.12 per cent loss at the close of trading activity.
All the key sectors of the local stock market turned red yesterday as a result of sustained profit-taking, though the industrial goods space was flat.
The insurance counter lost 1.49 per cent, the energy index shed 0.63 per cent, the consumer goods segment declined by 0.46 per cent, and the banking sector tumbled by 0.23 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 398.18 points to 242,619.20 points from 243,017.38 points, and the market capitalisation receded by N257 billion to N156.624 trillion from N156.881 trillion.
Fortis Global Insurance lost 9.31 per cent to trade at N2.63, Omatek depreciated by 9.04 per cent to N1.51, John Holt slipped by 9.00 per cent to N9.10, RT Briscoe slumped by 7.94 per cent to N11.60, and Dangote Sugar went down by 7.79 per cent to N64.55.
But International Energy Insurance gained 9.92 per cent to sell for N5.32, Trans-Nationwide Express appreciated by 9.65 per cent to N2.84, Guinea Insurance improved by 6.67 per cent to 80 Kobo, Regency Alliance grew by 6.25 per cent to 85 Kobo, and Japaul jumped by 5.36 per cent to N2.95.
The market breadth index remained negative, with 30 price losers and 21 price gainers, indicating weak investor sentiment.
The level of activity contracted yesterday, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals down by 66.67 per cent, 10.65 per cent, and 5.60 per cent, respectively.
This was because market participants transacted 1.4 billion shares worth N45.3 billion in 39,134 deals during the session compared with the 4.2 billion shares valued at n50.7 billion traded in 41,454 deals on Thursday.
Fortis Global Insurance was the most active equity for the day, with a turnover of 874.1 million units valued at N2.4 billion, Cornerstone Insurance sold 100.3 million units worth N506.5 million, Universal Insurance traded 56.7 million units for N44.5 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 53.3 million units worth N402.9 million, and MTN Nigeria transacted 44.6 million units valued at N31.4 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira maintained stability against the United States Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, August 14, according to data obtained by Business Post.
At the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the local currency remained unchanged at N1,357.65/$1, but lost N6.05 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,840.10 versus the previous session’s N1,834.05/£1, and depreciated against the Euro by N4.70 to sell for N1,571.70/€1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,567.00/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the Dollar at N1,395/$1, but gained N3 at the GTBank forex desk to quote at N1,364/$1 versus Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,367/$1.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that interbank FX transactions surged by 51.2 per cent to $119.594 million from $79.097 million. These transactions were executed in 137 deals, higher than the 98 deals recorded a day earlier.
FX inflows from exporters, remittances and other sources, alongside demand from importers and individuals requiring Dollars, continue to shape market conditions.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market recovered yesterday after experiencing a downturn in the previous sessions following reports that index provider MSCI has proposed new “non-operating company” screens for its Global Investable Market Indexes. Although the framework does not explicitly target cryptocurrency, it evaluates whether a company’s core operating assets constitute more than 50 per cent of its total holdings.
Heavy digital asset treasury adopters, including Strategy and Metaplanet, fail the proposed criteria and face potential removal during upcoming index rebalancings. While inclusion in major equity benchmarks previously allowed passive index funds and ETFs to automatically acquire these stocks, their removal could trigger forced institutional selling.
Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.7 per cent to $0.07, Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $611.34, Ethereum (ETH) added 0.4 per cent to trade at $1,879.65, and Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 0.2 per cent to $63,045.87, with Ripple (XRP), the US Dollar Tether (USDT), and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) flat at $1.00, respectively.
But Cardano (ADA) lost 1.2 per cent to trade at $0.1795, TRON (TRX) shed 0.4 per cent to finish at $0.3323, and Solana (SOL) declined by 0.2 per cent to $75.60.
