Economy
BUA Group Vows to Crash Prices Flour, Sugar, Others
Adedapo Adesanya
The management of BUA Group has promised to crash prices of major food items it produces like sugar, flour, pastas and many others. Since 2016, when Nigeria slipped into recession, the purchasing power of Nigerians has remained low.
Though inflation rate in the country has been on a steady decline, prices of food items have continued to rise and last month, the Nigerian government closed its borders to tackle smuggling of food items into the nation.
This action by government has caused prices of foodstuff to skyrocket at the market and at the moment, the price of a 50kg bag of rice goes for N24,000 to N26,000. Before the border closure, it was selling for N14,000 to N16,000.
What Would Support the Crashing of Prices
General Manager of BUA Ports and Terminals, Mr Mohammed Lile, speaking ahead of the commissioning of the company’s foods manufacturing complex in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria this month, told CNBC Africa that efforts would be made to bring down prices of its products.
Mr Lile explained that the huge factory in Port Harcourt was built in line with the federal government of Nigeria’s policy on self sufficiency, stating that the location of the plant gave it a good advantage to bring down the prices of products that would be produced in the complex.
He said the railway lines would reduce the cost of transportation which would make it easy to access parts of the country, adding that the sea was also available for ships to berth with raw materials that would processed at the complex.
He then noted that the use of gas would supplement the lack of power that faced production in the country which had been powered by its partners, Oando.
Mr Lile, in the interview with CNBC Africa and monitored by Business Post, noted that the $400 million project which started over five years ago comprises three factories; a sugar refinery; a flour (pasta) mill; and a power plant.
Sugar Refinery
Speaking on the sugar refinery which has a 720,000 metric tonnes capacity per annum, Mr Lile said, “This sugar refinery has a storage dome of 60,000 storage capacity for raw sugar.”
As for the power plant, Mr Lile disclosed that the plant had three sources that generated 24 megawatts of power.
“We have the turbine, which is 10 megawatts, we have the gas generators which is 12 megawatts, and then we have the diesel generator which is 2 megawatts,” he said.
Explaining how the factories would work together, Mr Lile noted that the imported raw materials, sugar and flour will be stored in the storage dome and processed in the plant.
“We import raw sugar which goes into the dome, it is processed, packaged, and then into the market.
Pasta Production
“We import raw wheat which goes into the silos, which has a capacity of about 32,000 metric tonnes, processed into flour and then to pasta. We also have the Semolina line,” Mr Lile said.
He also noted that the complex has 5 pasta lines.
Mr Lile said that the group had keyed into the Federal Government’s backward integration programme to ensure self sufficiency.
“We have acquired land in Lafiaji, Kwara state and Bassa, in Kogi state. The sugar plantation is already ongoing, generating employment which is also going to give us the raw materials which is going to complement whatever we are importing from Brazil,” the BUA Group top shot said.
He said this was an identical step it took when it started cement production when it went from just packaging to full production with the establishment of its plant in Edo state.
He added, “We have also expanded the Sokoto plants to 2 million tonnes per annum.”
Mr Lile, however, expressed that the major challenge faced by the company is with the Nigerian Port Authority following the decommissioning of the Terminal B Jetty in the Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Port complex, which is operated by the entity.
He noted that the issue was bringing about a loss of job opportunities for many Nigerians.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed higher by 0.94 per cent on Friday as a result of continued interest in the bourse.
Business Post reports that 48 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart during the session and 22 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Champion Breweries rose by 10.00 per cent to sell at N12.32, Ikeja Hotel appreciated by 10.00 per cent to close at N23.10, Unilever Nigeria grew by 10.00 per cent to N68.20, Nigerian Enamelware soared by 9.98 per cent to N27.00, and The Initiates surged by 9.95 per cent to N16.13.
On the flip side, Tripple Gee declined by 10.00 per cent to N3.51, Tantalizers dropped 10.00 per cent to N2.46, Sunu Assurances slipped by 6.64 per cent to N4.64, Ecobank crashed by 5.88 per cent to N32.00, and Neimeth depreciated by 4.55 per cent to N6.50.
Data showed that the consumer goods industry improved by 1.63 per cent during the session, the insurance sector increased by 1.32 per cent, the commodity index added 1.20 per cent, the industrial goods index jumped by 0.60 per cent, the banking space gained 0.59 per cent, and the energy counter chalked up 0.50 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 1,252.94 points to close at 134,452.93 points compared with the 133,199.99 points it finished on Thursday and the market capitalisation advanced by N792 billion to N85.055 trillion from N84.263 trillion.
Though activity was robust, it was short of the preceding trading session as investors pulled back, cherry-picking equities of interest to them.
The activity chart revealed that a total of 681.2 million shares valued at N17.0 billion exchanged hands in 26,931 deals yesterday compared with the 818.4 million shares worth N22.7 billion transacted in 22,955 deals a day earlier, showing an increase in the number of deals by 17.32 per cent, and a decrease in the trading volume and value by 16.76 per cent and 25.11 per cent, respectively.
Access Holdings led the activity table with 42.4 million equities sold for N1.2 billion, Universal Insurance transacted 40.7 million shares worth N29.7 million, Tantalizers exchanged 32.2 million stocks valued at N83.1 million, GTCO traded 28.7 million equities for N2.7 billion, and Ellah Lakes transacted 26.3 million shares worth N260.5 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The last trading day of this week on the floor of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended with a 0.53 per cent gain on Friday, July 25.
This was influenced by three securities led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which appreciated by N2.04 to trade at N49.47 per share compared with the preceding day’s N47.43 per share.
Further, Afriland Properties Plc gained N1.85 to end at N21.10 per unit versus the previous session’s N19.25 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc advanced by 8 Kobo to close at N73.84 per share compared with Thursday’s N73.76 per share.
As a result, the market capitalisation on the bourse went up by N11.15 billion to N2.127 trillion from N2.116 trillion while the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) grew by 1904 points to 3,633.79 points from 3,614.75 points.
Business Post reports that during the session, two securities declined in price, with Nipco Plc shedding N4.83 to sell for N240.00 per unit compared with the previous day’s N244.83 per unit, and UBN Property Plc lost 15 Kobo to trade at N1.95 per unit versus N2.10 per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities soared by 206.6 per cent to 1.4 million units from 471,023 units, the value of securities surged by 100.8 per cent to N35.5 million from N17.7 million, and the number of deals rose by 53.3 per cent to 69 deals from 45 deals.
Okitipupa Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 154.0 million units worth N4.9 billion, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units valued at N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 42.5 million units sold for N1.8 billion.
Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) maintained its position as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 1.1 billion units traded for N354.4 million, trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units sold for N524.8 million, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar at the black market by N1 on Friday, July 25 to quote at N1,535/$1, in contrast to the N1,536/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
However, it depreciated against the greenback in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window by 22 Kobo or 0.01 per cent to N1,534.66/$1 from the previous day’s value of N1,534.88/$1.
At the same official market, the Nigerian currency, however, improved its value against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N3.56 to close at N2,062.66/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N2,070.88/£1 and gained N8.60 against the Euro to finish at N1,800.84/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,807.06/€1.
The Nigerian Naira lost against the Dollar in the spot market on Friday amid renewed optimism on ongoing reforms and improvements in macroeconomic stability.
Analysts from Cordros Securities expect inflation to remain on a downward trend, especially as the Naira is projected to remain stable.
“Additionally, we expect petroleum product prices to remain stable, supported by low global oil prices, which should help maintain steady transportation costs,” it said in a note.
The firm explained that capital inflows have equally rebounded since global financial pressures eased in May, adding that elevated Naira yields and a stable FX market continued to attract foreign portfolio investments and bolster investor confidence.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was upbeat yesterday a a wave of ETF-driven optimism and post-lawsuit momentum builds despite price turbulence and large-scale liquidations.
Both Ripple (XRP) and Solana (SOL) are benefiting from increased interest and a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment in the US.
Solana (SOL) grew by 4.5 per cent to $186.21, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 4.5 per cent to $0.2372, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 3.1 per cent to $3,738.89, Ripple (XRP) rose by 2.8 per cent to $3.11, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 2.7 per cent to $782.91, Cardano (ADA) increased by 2.6 per cent to $0.8187, Bitcoin (BTC) expanded by 1.9 per cent to $117,388.79, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.4 per cent to $113.15, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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