Economy
NCDMB, IOCs laud Yulong Steel Pipe Mill
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), major operating companies and other stakeholders of the industry have commended Yulong Steel Pipe Mill for the speed and quality of their investment, describing the factory as comparable to similar facilities in China and India.
The Executive Secretary of the Board, Mr Simbi Kesiye Wabote recently led top executives of the oil and gas industry on a pre-commissioning visit to Yulong facility located at Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
He stated that the Board will work with the oil companies under the aegis of the Oil Producers Trade Section and Yulong to invite international certifying bodies to certify the new pipe mill.
Mr Wabote pledged the Board’s commitment to support companies that invest in the Nigerian economy so as to create employment for Nigerians and challenged multinationals and indigenous service companies to emulate Yulong by investing in manufacturing facilities in Nigeria.
He indicated that the Board had clear guidelines for implementing Nigerian Content requirements in Free Zones through collaborations with the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) and the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA).
The Executive Secretary stressed that Yulong and other Oil and Gas companies operating in the Free Trade Zones were bound by the provisions of the Nigerian Content Act especially as it pertains to Expatriate Quota Utilization and employment of Nigerians. According to him, “this facility provides a good opportunity for Yulong to gradually build the skills of Nigerians to eventually operate the facility. The Board is interested in seeing the laid out plans by Yulong to ensure that Nigerians are gradually trained to take over those responsibilities especially in the skilled areas.”
Speaking after inspecting the factory, the Nigerian Content chieftain recalled that “the case for the establishment of pipe mill was reinforced following a gap analysis conducted in 2011 which established an annual demand of about 83,000mt per annum compared to the capacity at the time of 100,000 metric tonne per annum in SCC pipe mill.”
He further said that, “ramp-up local capacity policy inventions were introduced to stimulate investment in the establishment of at least four pipe mills. The interventions include direct investment in Polaku Pipe Mill by NCDMB along with investors with an exit plan and support to third party investors by granting first consideration in procurement of line pipes for oil and gas projects.”
The Executive Secretary disclosed that the interventions were working as SCC had since expanded its capacity to 207,000mt per annum Helical Submerged Arc Welding (HSAW) line pipes. This capacity growth is about 30 per cent of industry demand with Yulong about to add 400,000mt of HSAW pipes and is targeting industry needs in Nigeria and other West African countries.
He reiterated that the Board will rely on the provisions of the Act that give first consideration to services provided within Nigeria and to goods manufactured in Nigeria to ensure that operators in the industry patronise the facility and other laudable investments.
The Executive Secretary commended the speed with which the factory was built, noting, “from what I am told, the factory actually started construction work in February 2016 and nine months later manufacturing has actually started. This is commendable.”
He also tasked the company to consider introducing another production line that will be dedicated to other types of line pipes required in the industry. He noted that there was excess capacity of HSAW pipes in Nigeria with a huge demand gap for Longitudinal Submerged Arc Welding (LSAW) pipes, High Frequency Welded (HFW) pipes and Seamless pipes. He added that investment in these mills will help address the remaining 70 per cent of industry demand that is still sourced abroad and ensure huge impact in spend retention, job creation and technology acquisition.
Earlier in his presentation, the Chief Marketing Officer of Yulong Steel Pipe Company Limited, Mr A. Abbas stated that the intention of the company was to build the steel pipe complex in three phases. He noted that the first is to produce Spiral Submerged Arc Welding (SSAW) pipes, the second will be for Longitudinal Submerged Arc Welding (LSAW) pipes and the third will be the ER Welding pipes.
“What you see today is only the first phase of the Spiral Submerged Arc Welding Pipe. The production capacity will be 250,000mt per annum as well as a coating facility which can cover all types of coating reaching almost 3 million square metres per year,” Mr Abbas affirmed.
He acknowledged the plant is integrated with a pipe coating facility which during peak construction will employ about 600 Nigerians for the project. Abbas also hinted that Yulong Lekki investment owns 51 per cent stake in Jiangsu Yulong Steel Company of China while in future, 49% equity of Yulong Lekki will be dedicated to Nigerian investors operating inside the Lekki Free Zone.
He also asserted that with the ground breaking ceremony in December 2015, the first pipe was produced in Nigeria in November 2016.
In his good will messages, the Managing Director of the Lekki Free Zone Development Company, Mr Yonghua Ding stated that Yulong successfully passed the factory test-run at the FTZ and declared the mill fit and ready for production.
While commending Yulong Steel, Mr Ding extolled the company for keeping to its commitment with the Nigerian government with an investment of good quality and fast speed.
The Managing Director of the Zone also said that the company made a great decision to comply with the policy of Nigerian government on Local Content and local industrialization as part of their contribution to the Nigerian society, economy, youth employment and for technical transfer.
Also delivering a message of good will on behalf of the Coordinators of the Zone, the Assistant General Manager (Zone Technical Services), NEPZA, Mrs Pwash Eldon opined that the agency was impressed with the state of work done within the short period. She further commended Yulong for their commitment to ensuring that they deliver as they promised.
The NEPZA official informed that the agency’s management is a strong advocate of the NOGICD Act which is a rallying point for both the Board and NEPZA to collaborate for the overall good of the Nigerian economy and for the investor confidence.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session 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 traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 4 amid renewed forex pressure associated with December.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian currency lost 0.01 per cent or 18 Kobo against the Dollar to close at N1,447.83/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.65/$1.
It was not a different scenario with the local currency in the same market segment against the Pound Sterling as it further shed N15.43 to sell for N1,930.97/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,925.08/£1 and declined against the Euro by 20 Kobo to finish at N1,688.74/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,688.54/€1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback in the black market to quote at N1,465/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,460/$1 but closed flat against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter at N1,453/$1.
Fluctuations in trading range is expected to continue during the festive season as traders expect the Nigerian currency to be stable, supported by intervention s by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)in the face of steady dollar demand.
Support is also expected in coming weeks as seasonal activities, particularly the stylised “Detty December” festivities, will see inflows that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month, according to a new report.
“As the festive Detty December season intensifies, inbound travel, tourism spending, and diaspora inflows are expected to provide moderate support for FX liquidity,” analysts at the research unit of FMDA said in its latest monthly report for November.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was down as the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, likely rose in September—moving in the wrong direction. However, volatility indices show no signs of major turbulence.
If the actual figure matches estimates, it would mark 55 straight months of inflation above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. The sticky inflation would strengthen the hawkish policymakers, who are in favour of slower rate cuts.
Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to $2.08, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.8 per cent to $138.11, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 3.1 per cent to $83.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 2.5 per cent to $0.1463, Cardano (ADA) declined by 2.1 per cent to $0.4368, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.9 per cent to $91,975.45, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.9 per cent to $899.41, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.7 per cent to $3,156.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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