The value of agriculture import recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020 stood at N532.4 billion, as the export ended the quarter at N55.77 billion.
This was disclosed by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday.
According to NBS, the value of imported agricultural goods rose by 5.75% to N532.39 billion in Q4, 2020 from N503.4 billion in Q3, 2020.
On the other hand, the value of exported agricultural goods dropped to N55.77 billion in Q4, 2020 from N60.63 billion in Q3, 2020. This represents an 8% drop.
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The report stated, “The value of total trade in agricultural goods in Q4, 2020 stood at N588.2 billion representing 6.45% of total trade in Q4, 2020.
“Export of agricultural goods was valued at N55.8 billion or 1.75% of total exports in Q4 2020. Compared to N60.6 billion recorded in Q3 2020, the value of agricultural exports fell by 8% and by 18.2% when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019.
“During the quarter, most agricultural products were exported to Asia (valued at N43.4 billion) and Europe (valued at N9.4 billion).”
The report added that the export of agricultural products was dominated by sesame seeds, which was valued at N27.3 billion, followed by fermented cocoa beans (valued at N6.7 billion) and sesamum oil and fractions (N4.4 billion).
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Highlights of exported products
- Sesamum seeds worth N18.1 billion were exported to China and N4 billion to Japan.
- Good fermented cocoa beans worth N1.4 billion was exported to the Netherlands and N1.3 billion to Indonesia.
- Sesamum oil and its fractions worth N4.3 billion was also exported to China.
Imported products
- Agricultural goods valued at N532.4 billion were imported in Q4 2020 compared to N503.4 billion in Q3, 2020, an increase of 5.75%
- The major agriculture imports in Q4 2020 included durum wheat (not in seeds) worth N62.9 billion imported from Russia, Lithuania (N55.3 billion), the United States (N54.6 billion) and Canada (N51.8billion).
- Herrings (fish) valued at N14.8 billion were imported from the Netherlands while Russia accounted for N6.62 billion worth of the product.
- Palm olein worth N22 billion was imported from Malaysia.
