Ike Amos
Abuja — Nigeria earned N340.54 billion from the export of Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG and other gas products in the third quarter of 2020.
According to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics’ Third Quarter 2020 Foreign Trade Statistics, this amount represented a decline of 23.6 per cent compared to N445.71 billion earned from the export of the same commodities in the third quarter of 2019.
A breakdown of the data showed that the LNG export in the third quarter of 2020 stood at N277.62 billion, representing 9.28 per cent of Nigeria’s total export, while earnings from other petroleum gases stood at N55.89 billion, representing 1.87 per cent of Nigeria’s total export.
In addition, export of liquefied propane fetched the country N7.03 billion, accounting for 0.24 per cent of Nigeria’s total exports in the quarter under review.
In its analysis of general trade data in the period, the NBS said: “The value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade stood at N8.374 trillion in third quarter 2020. This represents an increase of 34.15 per cent in third quarter 2020 compared to second quarter 2020, but a decline of 8.85 per cent compared to third quarter 2019.
“Total trade year to date amounted to N23.204 trillion. The import component was valued at N5.381 trillion, representing an increase of 33.77 per cent in third quarter 2020, against the level recorded in second quarter 2020 and 38.02 per cent compared to third quarter 2019. The value of imports in third quarter 2020 represented the highest level for any quarter since 2017.
“The export component accounted for N2.993 trillion of the total trade in third quarter 2020, indicating an increase of 34.85 per cent compared to the value recorded in second quarter 2020, but a decrease of 43.41 per cent compared to third quarter 2019.
“Aside from second quarter 2020, the value of exports in third quarter 2020 represented the lowest level of any quarter since 2017. Due to lower exports and higher imports compared to 2019, the trade balance recorded a deficit of N2.389 trillion during the third quarter. This also represents the widest merchandise trade deficit since 2017. When compared to the deficit of N1.803 trillion recorded in second quarter, the third quarter deficit rose by 32.45 per cent.”
However, the NBS noted that year to date value of imports (January to September 2020) stood at N13.908 trillion.
It added that the increase in the value of imports in the third quarter 2020 could be attributed to the increases in the value of mineral fuels, which stood at N484.4 billion or 219 per cent of total imports, Machinery & transport equipment, N314.9billion or 20 per cent of total imports and chemicals and related products N261.0 billion or 34 per cent of total imports, against their respective values in Q2,2020.
On the other hand, the report stated that the predominant export remained crude oil, which was valued at N2.425 trillion, representing 81.02 per cent of total exports while non-crude oil was valued at N568.2 billion, or 18.98 per cent of total export during the review period.