Economy
Brent Crude Falls on Inconclusive Direction in US-China Trade Talks
By Adedapo Adesanya
The price of the Brent crude fell by 17 cents or 0.3 per cent to $66.87 a barrel on Tuesday as the market awaited direction from trade talks between the US and China.
Also, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude depreciated during the trading day by 31 cents or 0.5 per cent to settle at $64.98 per barrel as trade talks continued in London on Tuesday amid efforts by the world’s top two economies to sort out differences following a call between the leaders of the two countries.
President Donald Trump’s top trade officials met their Chinese counterparts in London on Monday, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer negotiating on behalf of the US.
Mr Trump authorized Mr Bessent’s team to potentially remove US restrictions on the sales of chipmaking software, jet engine parts and ethane.
On his part, Mr Lutnick said trade talks with Chinese officials were going well and he hoped they would end on Tuesday night, but said they could run into Wednesday.
However, as there was no immediate resolution, the market closed south.
The World Bank slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 to 2.3 per cent, saying that higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a “significant headwind” for nearly all economies.
The global lender said that an escalation of trade tensions could push growth even lower, but the picture could improve if major economies strike lasting trade agreements.
In cutting its global growth expectation, the World Bank follows various other bodies, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which also cited the fallout from trade and tariff-related uncertainty as the key factor.
On the supply side, allocations to Chinese refiners showed that Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Saudi Aramco will ship about 47 million barrels of oil to China in July, 1 million barrels less than June’s allotted volume.
Also, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) put forward plans for an output increase of 411,000 barrels per day for July as it looks to unwind production cuts for a fourth straight month.
Iran, the third-largest OPEC producer, said it would soon make a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal in response to a US offer that it refused to accept while President Trump made it clear that the two sides remained at odds.
An easing of US sanctions on Tehran will allow Iran to export more oil, which should reduce crude prices.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the US fell by 370,000 barrels in the week ending June 6. The API reported a 3.3 million barrel inventory decrease in the prior week.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, 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 worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
