Animal products, chemical, base metals dip Nigeria’s terms of trade 2.13% in Q3  

By Charles Abuede

• All commodity group import index rose by 1.89% while commodity group export price index averagely decreased by 0.30%

Nigeria’s terms of trade index declined by 2.13 per cent due to the fall in the prices of products of chemical and allied industries, base metals and articles of base metals, live animals and animal products in the third quarter of 2020, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed.

According to the terms of trade report from the statistics office, Nigeria recorded 0.3 per cent decrease in all commodity group export price index between July and September 2020. This decrease resulted from decrease in the prices of products of chemical and allied industries (-2.10%), base metals and articles of base metals (-1.95%) and papermaking material (-0.74%). On the other hand, increases were recorded for boilers, machinery and appliances (5.38%), prepared foodstuffs, beverages, spirits and vinegar (1.9%) and vegetable products (1.05%).

All-Region group imports and exports

On the flip side from the report, there was an overall increase of 1.89 per cent recorded in the all-region group import during the first nine months of 2020. The overall surge was precipitated by increases in import prices from all regions: Oceania (6.9%), America (4.4%), Asia (1.8%) and Europe (1.53%). Conversely, between July and August, the all-region group export recorded an overall decrease of 0.30 per cent mainly due to decreases in the prices of exports across Africa (-6.07%), Europe (-0.58%) and America (-0.1%) while Asia was the only region that recorded a positive change (2.75%).

During the third quarter of 2020, whilst the all-region group export index recorded a marginal increase of 0.22 per cent, a decrease of 0.52 per cent between August and September, the all-region import index recorded an increase of 2.49 per cent but fell 0.60 per cent between August and September.

A further breakdown from the report as collated and published by the Abuja based statistics office, between July and August 2020, the all commodity group export index increased by 0.22 per cent and was mainly driven by wood and articles of wood, charcoal and articles (4.78%), live animals, animal products (1.67%) and vegetable products (1.60%). Conversely, the index was negatively affected by base metals and articles of base metals (- 1.08%), Plastic rubber and articles (-0.90%) and Papermaking materials, Paper and paperboard (-0.68%) during the period under review according to the report.

Nigeria’s terms of trade by regions in Q3

Looking into the terms of trade by regions, the analyzed data revealed that Nigeria’s terms of trade decreased by -2.21 per cent in August but rose marginally by 0.08 per cent in September. On average, the all-region terms of trade index decreased by 2.13 per cent in the third quarter due to decreases in export prices to Oceania (-6.66%), Africa (-5.06%), America (-4.30%) and Europe (-2.01%). However, export prices to Asia were higher by 1.03 per cent.

Nigeria’s top exports trade and imports trade partners

The data also revealed that India was the largest export market of Nigeria in Q3 2020 with an export value of N500.63 billion, or 16.73 per cent of the value of total exports with imports worth N138.43 billion. Nigeria’s major export to Spain in Q3, 2020 was Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude, valued at N282.8 billion. Consequently, Spain paid Nigeria N328.01 billion in exchange for Nigeria’s exports and imports worth N52.42 billion during the period under review.

In third position on the list of Nigeria’s major trade partners was Netherlands N226.15 billion in export while imports during the third quarter were valued at N371.94 billion. Also, Turkey received exports from Nigeria worth N150.0 billion and in turn sent commodities worth N19.18 billion into Nigeria. Finally, Nigeria exported commodities valued at N123.27 billion to China while total imports worth N260.61 billion were traded between the two countries between July and September 2020. However, while Nigeria’s major exports to these countries were crude petroleum and natural gas, the major imports from these countries were Motor spirits, motorcycles and antibiotics.