Ike Amos
26 September 2018, Sweetcrude, Abuja — Nigeria’s spending on fuel and lubricants import depreciated by 49.48 percent to N426.939 billion in the second quarter of 2018, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.
The NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the Second Quarter of 2018, stated that this was compared to fuel import of N845.118 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2018.
The report noted that of the total amount, the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, accounted for N277.71 billion, representing 65.05 percent of the total fuel import in the second quarter of 2018.
As a result, the report noted that petrol emerged the most imported commodity, followed by gas oil, with an import bill of N74.58 billion, while lubricating oils came ninth on the import list, with N29.15 billion.
The report further stated that China emerged the top import destination for Nigeria, accounting for N531.55 billion, representing 25.53 percent of total import into Nigeria, while The Netherlands, Belgium, India, and the United States exported goods valued at N181 billion, N170.89 billion, N145.02 billion and 141.58 billion to Nigeria respectively.
In addition, Nigeria’s total import from Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, and France stood at N70.995 billion, N59.54 billion, N56.54 billion, N55.77 billion and N53.91 billion respectively.
The report noted that the total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade was N6.569 trillion in the second quarter of 2018, which was a -8.89 percent contraction from N7.211 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2018 and a 14.56 percent growth from N5.73 trillion recorded in the second quarter of 2017.
According to the report, the contraction of total trade in the reviewing quarter was mainly driven by the decline in both imports and exports.
It also noted that the trade balance in second quarter 2018 was a surplus of N2.357 trillion, which represented an increase of 8.36 percent from N2.17 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2018 and a 399.82 percent increase from N471.48 billion in first quarter 2017.
The NBS added that “Total value of imports into Nigeria in the second quarter stood at N2.106 trillion, of which N426.9 billion imports were mineral fuel, representing 20.26 percent of the total import.
“Machinery and transport equipment import stood at N600.6 billion, representing 28.5 percent of total import in the second quarter, while Chemical and Related Product imports accounted for 7.7 percent of total imports.”
Again, the NBS report revealed that Nigeria spent N995.835 billion on the fuel import in the first six months of 2018, rising by 36.2 percent compared with N730.925 billion spent on the importation of the commodity in the second half of 2017, and a decline of 26.3 percent compared to N1.351 trillion recorded in the first half of 2017.
