Imports of raw materials into Nigeria rose to N2.32tn last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic from N1.34tn in 2019, according to data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics.
The NBS said in its latest Foreign Trade Statistics report that the value of total trade in raw material stood at N762.6bn in the fourth quarter of 2020.
It said the import component was valued at N715.7bn while the export component stood at N46.9bn.
“The value of raw material imports grew marginally by 0.75 per cent in Q4 2020 compared to Q3 2020 but was 113.12 per cent higher compared to Q4 2019. For 2020, the value of raw material imports was 72.5 per cent higher than the value recorded in 2019,” the statistics office said.
According to the report, the value of raw material goods exports in Q4 was 317.6 per cent higher than the value in Q3 and 122 per cent higher than the value recorded in Q4 2019.
“In 2020, the value of raw material goods exports was only 0.7 per cent higher than the value recorded in 2019,” it said.
The NBS said during the fourth quarter, urea was exported to Brazil, at a value of N11.2bn.
It said this was followed by leather (further prepared after tanning) exported to Spain, India and Italy and valued at N2.4bn, N2.1bn and N1.9bn respectively.
Ammonium sulphate valued at N3.3bn was also exported to Brazil, according to the report.
The NBS said, “In terms of imports, cane sugar worth N102.5bn was imported from Brazil, followed by preparations for infant use imported from China and the United Kingdom valued at N16.7bn and N12.8bn respectively.
“Other products imported under this category were mixtures of odoriferous substance, imported from Swaziland and Ireland and valued at N15.9bn and N13.1bn respectively. In addition, milk preparation valued at N10.3bn was imported from Ireland while other glutamic acid and its salts worth N10.4bn were imported from China.
