By Dipo Olowookere
The price of maize at the commodities market depreciated by 1.22 per cent, data obtained by Business Post from AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited on Tuesday revealed.
The commodity, which earlier traded at N160,000 per metric tonne, depreciated by N1,944 per metric tonne to N158,056 per metric tonne.
Maize is one of the most utilised and multifunctional crops in Africa. It is a major staple food grain not only in Africa, but in many parts of the world like Latin America and Asia and is also used as a major feed in developed countries.
The maize grain has numerous products ranging from edible grains to syrups and oils. Some of its products are used for corn ethanol and animal feed.
Some days ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed authorised forex dealers not to sell Dollars to importers of maize in the country.
This move, according to the CBN, was to support local production and help the country to safe the scarce forex.
Since this policy was introduced, the price of maize has gone up at the market, causing some stakeholders like the poultry farmers to beg the central bank to change its mind on the forex ban on maize importation.
Before the latest decline in the price of maize, shortly after the central bank’s forex ban, the price peaked around N170,000/MT at the market.
A look at the other commodities at the AFEX showed that the price of cocoa remained unchanged at N916,000/MT.
Furthermore, the prices of soybeans stayed at N150,000/MT, the paddy rice flat at N189,907/MT, sorghum remained at N124,500/MT, while ginger was flat at N752,667/MT.
