Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014 — 21
Nigeria to earn N104bn from cocoa export N
By WILLIAM JIMOH, with agency report
IGERIA will earn about N104 billion from the export of cocoa this year as the output of the product is set to rise by 10 per cent. According to the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, this is due to a rise in the price of the commodity last year which resulted in planting of more disease-resistant beans in the country this season. Robo Adhuze, spokesperson for the association, who stated this during a media chart in Lagos, noted that Nigeria will harvest 225,000 tons of cocoa this season, according to Amsterdam-based trader
Continaf BV estimate. “Output for 2013-14 will probably rise by 10 per cent as higher prices enable more farmers to buy agrochemicals to protect their crops,” noting that the association is still collecting data for the year in line with the outlook. Cocoa rallied 21 percent in New York last year partly on speculation dry weather would damage crops in West Africa. The farm-gate prices for cocoa beans increased 40 percent to N420,000 or $2,592 per metric ton as of Jan. 23, from N300,000 a year ago, said Adhuze,. “Nigeria’s main crop, being
harvested now, can be affected by fungi diseases such as the black pod but the impact on production is minimal owing to pest control. The new crop varieties supplied by government produce 1 1/ 2 tons of cocoa per hectare 2.47 acres each season compared with the older types which yield 1/2 ton,” Adhuze said. Nigeria, world’s fourth-biggest producer of cocoa, plans to double cocoa production to 500,000 tons by next year, Akinwunmi Ayo Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said last year. Nigeria is distributing earlymaturing, high-yielding, diseaseresistant beans that mature in about 18 months to farmers to replace the traditional crop with four to five years maturity, Malachy Akoroda, Chief Executive of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, said in August.
SON impounds substandard goods worth N400m
S
TANDARDS Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on Monday in Lagos seized three containers of gas cylinders and sealed four warehouses stocked with substandard generating sets worth N400 million. Mr Bede Obayi, Head of Inspectorate and Compliance Unit, SON, told journalists that the organisation’s taskforce made the huge seizure based on intelligence reports. Obayi said that the cylinders were being smuggled into the country when the task force intercepted it around Okokomaiko, a Lagos suburb. He said that the goods had been sampled and sent to the laboratory for a final test. “On the spot examination showed that the goods did not have the necessary import documents and failed the basic standard parameters. We will take action against the importers by evacuating the goods from the warehouses. We do not want goods that do not meet the required standard to be in circulation,” Obayi said. “We have put a series of measures in place to deter importers of fake and substandard goods into the country. They no longer have any hiding place, the exit of SON from the sea ports, notwithstanding,” he said. According to Obayi, the importers and manufacturers of substandard goods would be made to face the full weight of the law.
BRIEFING: From left: First Deputy President, Kaduna Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Alhaji Awwalu Makarfi; Vice President of the chamber, Dr Rowland Ogbonna; and Director General, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Dr John Isemede during the Kaduna Chambers of Commerce media briefing on its forthcoming 35th international trade fair in Lagos, yesterday.
113.6
-0.8
Brent oil remains $107 as China slowdown stokes demand worries
2,898.00
+106.00
B
14.8
-0.31
RENT oil was $107 a barrel on Monday as slowdown in China demand creates worries, but cold weather of northern Hemisphere and tensions in the Middle East curbed losses. Emerging markets came under pressure as the U.S. Federal Reserve looked set to continue tapering its stimulus and as tighter credit conditions in China raised fears of a slowdown. However, expectations the West will pick up the slack in China’s slowing oil demand-growth meant losses in crude futures were limited. Brent crude was 32 cents off 107.56 dollars a barrel, after settling 30 cents higher. U.S. oil gained 22 cents to 96.86 dollars, having ended 68 cents lower. “Overall, the fundamental scenario for oil is not so bad because you have recovery in the U.S and Europe making
up for China trend,” said Tony Nunan. He is an oil risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo. “But will we have to go through another crisis of a contagion across emerging markets? That’s the thing in everybody’s mind now.” China’s economic growth will slow gradually over the next two years, a media poll showed. Growth for 2014 may come in at 7.4 per cent, according to the median forecast. That would mark the slowest expansion for the economy since 1990. “The government is doing the right thing, but China is a bit of a double-edged sword,” said Nunan. Fed officials are seen cutting bondbuying by another 10 billion dollars at their regular two-day policy meeting beginning on Tuesday. “If further tapering were to occur, the U.S.-
denominated crude is likely to suffer in the short-term due to the strengthening in the greenback,” analysts at Phillip Futures said in a note. However, longterm prospects will be positive as it underpins recovery in the U.S. economy, suggesting higher demand for the commodity.” Around this time of the year as peak winter season demand ebbs and refineries go in for maintenance, oil should typically come under pressure, Nunan said. But the severe cold spell in the U.S., Europe and Japan means that Brent may trade between 106 dollars and 108 dollars a barrel for the week, he said. Prices are also drawing support from lingering worries of a worsening geopolitical crisis in the Middle East.
107.04
-0.84
95.76
-0.88
CURRENCY BUYING DOLLAR STERLING EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL KRONA SDR
154.75 257.0398 212.2706 173.2923 1.5604 0.3011 236.4395 25.5814 41.2612 28.4399 237.8198
SELLING 155.25 257.8703 212.9564 173.8522 1.5654 0.3111 237.2035 25.6645 41.3945 28.5318 238.5882
155.75 258.7008 213.6423 174.4121 1.5704 0.3211 237.9674 25.7476 41.5278 28.6237 239.3566
CBN Exchange rate as at 28/01/2014