Economy
Global Food Prices Jump to Almost 7-Year High in March
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United Nations through the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has disclosed that global food commodity prices rose for the 10th conservative month in March, led by vegetable oils and dairy products.
The FAO said this in its Food Price Index report released on Thursday, noting that in the third month of the year, the FAO food price index averaged 118.5 points in March, 2.1 per cent higher than in February and reaching its highest level since June 2014.
It said the March increase was led by the FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index which rose 8.0 per cent from the previous month and making its highest level since June 2011.
“The persistent strength of the index was driven by higher values of palm, soy, rape and sunflower oils.
“International palm oil prices registered a tenth conservative monthly increase as lingering concerns over tight inventory levels in major exporting countries coincided with a gradual recovery in global import demand.
“Meanwhile, soy oil prices rose sharply, largely underpinned by prospects of firm demand especially from the biodiesel sector,” it said.
The FAO Dairy Price Index averaged 117.4 points in March, rising for the 10th conservative month and lifting the index to nearly 16 per cent above its value in the corresponding month last year.
“In March, international butter prices rose mainly underpinned by somewhat tight supplies in Europe due to a slow start to its milk production season and increased internal demand in anticipation of a foodservice sector recovery.
“Milk powder prices also rose, supported by a surge in imports in Asia, particularly China due to declining production in Oceania and scarce shipping container availability in Europe and North America,” the report said.
According to the report, the FAO Cereal Index averaged 123.6 points in March, down 1.7 per cent from February, ending the eight-month rising trend but still 26.5 per cent above its March 2020 level.
“Among major cereals, wheat export prices declined the most in March falling 2.4 per cent.
“However, they remained 19.5 per cent higher than in the same month last year.
“The month to month decline in wheat prices mostly reflected generally good supplies and favourable production prospects for the 2021 crops.
“International maize and barley prices also fell in March although continued strong import demand from China prevented them from falling more significantly, and sorghum prices even rose,” it said.
In the report, the FAO Meat Price Index averaged 98.9 points in March up 2.3 per cent from February.
“Poultry and pig meat quotations increased, underpinned by a fast pace of imports by Asian countries, mainly China.
“A surge in internal sales in Europe in preparation for the Easter celebrations also supported pig meat prices.
“Bovine meat prices remained steady at close to the February levels.
“By contrast, ovine meat prices fell on increased supplies from New Zealand as farmers offloaded animals early due to prevailing dry weather,” the report said.
The report said the FAO Sugar Price Index averaged 96.2 points in March, down 4.0 per cent from February, marking the first decline after sharp increases registered in the previous two months.
“The recent monthly decline in international sugar price quotations was triggered by prospects of large exports from India despite persisting logistical constraints.
“Sugar quotations remained more than 30 per cent above its year-earlier level, underpinned by concerns over tight global supplies in 2020/21,” it said.
Giving its forecast, FAO said it expects world cereal production in 2021 to increase for the third consecutive year.
It said for the current 2020/21 marketing season, global cereal utilisation is now forecast at 2777 million tonnes, 2.4 per cent higher than the previous year, driven largely by higher estimates of feed use of wheat and barley in China where the livestock sector is recovering from Africa swine fever.
It said world cereal stocks at the end of 2021 are forecast to decline by 1.7 per cent from their opening levels to 808 million tonnes.
“Combined with the utilisation forecasts, the global cereal stock to use ratio for 2020/21 is foreseen to dip to a seven-year low of 28.4 per cent.
“Global wheat production is forecast to reach a new high of 785 million tonnes in 2021, up 1.4 per cent from 2020, driven by a likely sharp rebound across most of Europe and expectations of a record harvest in India,” it said.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.
The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.
At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.
According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.
It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.
The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.
The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.
As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.
Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.
Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.
On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.
In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.
Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.
In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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