Nigeria’s seaborne trade hits N8.6 trillion in Q3

Nigeria’s import and export with its trade partners through water transportation has been estimated at N8.6tr in the third quarter of 2019.

A report by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that water transportation remained the major mode of transporting goods between Nigeria and other countries.

During the period under review, water transportation accounted for N5.2tr or 99.39 per cent of total exports, while it accounted for N3.4tr or 89.5 per cent of the value of total imports in the period under review.

In the same vein, air transportation contributed N15.4b, road transportation N11.6b, other means contributed N5.4b for export, while goods imported by road and air were valued at N17.2b and N390.3b respectively.

The NBS said the bulk of export transactions were conducted through Apapa Port, valued at N4.2tr or 80.5 per cent of total exports, followed by Tin Can Island port, which recorded N793.4b or 15 per cent in Q3.

In terms of imports, Apapa Port also recorded the highest transactions valued at N1.7tr or 43.8 per cent of total imports followed by Tin Can Island (N785.9b or 20.2 per cent) and Port Harcourt-3 (N415.3b or 10.7 per cent).

Meanwhile, the value of Nigeria’s total trade stood at N9.1tr in Q3, 2019 representing 6.77 per cent increase over the Q2, 2019 and 1.33 per cent increase relative to Q3, 2018.

The nation’s imports plunged to N3.8tr during the period, representing a decrease of 2.70 per cent over the value recorded in Q2, 2019 and 7.47 per cent over the corresponding quarter of 2018.

NBS attributed the shortfall to decreases in the values of mineral fuel (which fell by N381.9b or 41.98 per cent) and crude inedible materials (N15.95b or 24.44 per cent) in Q3 2019 over their values in Q2.

The report also showed that in Q3 2019 the value of imported agricultural products was 4.01 per cent lower than in Q2, but 7.21 per cent higher than in Q3 2018.

Also, the value of raw material imports decreased 4.64 per cent in Q3, 2019 relative to Q2, 2019 but increased 16.81 per cent compared to Q3 of 2018.

The value of solid mineral imports was 31.73 per cent lower than the value of in Q2, 2019 but 7.05 per cent higher than the value recorded in Q3 2018.

With the closure of the nation’s land borders, the import value from Africa came to N106b, while Asia came tops with N1.9tr followed by Europe with N1.1tr and America with N576.7b.