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 Dipo Olowookere
A 1.08 per cent growth was further printed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday on improved appetite for Nigerian stocks.
Data showed that the insurance sector lost 0.61 per cent yesterday due to profit-taking as the energy space gave up 0.08 per cent, while the commodity counter closed flat.
However, the industrial goods landscape appreciated by 2.06 per cent, the banking index improved by 1.31 per cent, and the consumer goods sector expanded by 0.83 per cent.
At the close of business on Customs Street, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,563.92 points to 147,040.07 points from 145,476.15 points and the market capitalisation went up by N996 billion to N93.722 trillion from N92.726 trillion.
UAC Nigeria led the advancers’ log yesterday after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N96.80, Transcorp Hotels jumped by 9.71 per cent to N172.80, Royal Exchange appreciated by 8.89 per cent to N1.96, Ikeja Hotel soared by 8.74 per cent to N31.10, and Veritas Kapital leapt by 8.07 per cent to N1.74.
On the flip side, Union Dicon declined by 10.00 per cent to N6.30, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N3.10, AXA Mansard depreciated by 7.19 per cent to N12.90, FTN Cocoa lost 4.62 per cent to trade at N4.75, and Guinea Insurance dropped 3.36 per cent to finish at N1.15.
A total of 38 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 17 stocks finished on the losers’ table, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Traders transacted 361.6 million equities for N14.8 billion in 21,051 deals yesterday versus the 1.9 billion equities worth N19.2 billion traded in 23,369 deals a day earlier, showing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 80.97 per cent, 22.92 per cent, and 14.20 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock for the session was Zenith Bank with 59.5 million units worth N3.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 46.1 million units valued at N973.0 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 29.4 million units for N560.4 million, FCMB transacted 27.9 million units worth N293.9 million, and Tantalizers sold 13.0 million units valued at N29.8 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.
The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.
The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.
During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.
The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.
Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.
As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.
However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.
With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.
Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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