Nigerians spent N110.5bn to import premium motor spirit (PMS) and diesel-powered used vehicles from the United States (US) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between April and June 2024.
This is despite the rising cost of PMS and the call for Nigerians to adopt or convert their car engines to run on Compressed Nature Gas (CNG) which is a cheaper alternative fuel.
The cost of PMS has surged since the removal of subsidies on PMS and the prices of PMS are between N898 to N1,019 per litre across Nigeria.
Despite the country’s foreign exchange woes, citizens spent over N12.47tn on importation in the second quarter.
Importation from China was N3,03tn which represents 24.29 per cent of total imports, according to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Imports from Belgium followed as official data revealed that Nigerians spent N1.790.1tn which is 14.35 per cent of total imports.
India emerged as the third import partner with goods worth N1,059tn or 8.49 per cent of total imports.
Nigerians also spent N917.84bn or 7.36 per cent of total imports to buy from the US while importation from the Netherlands was valued at N585bn or 4.69 per cent of total imports.
Manufactured goods mainly imported were ‘Used Vehicles, with diesel or semidiesel engine, of cylinder capacity >2500cc’ from the United States and United Arab Emirates.
The used cars imported from the USA were valued at N102.97bn while imports of used cars from the UAE were N7.57bn.
The report disclosed that out of the N19.42tn gained from export of commodities, most of the commodities were shipped through the Apapa Port in Lagos.
Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2024, the bulk of export transactions were carried through Apapa Port with goods valued at N18,129tn or 93.36 per cent of total exports, followed by Tin Can Island Port which recorded N791.15bn or 4.07 per cent of total exports.
On imports, Apapa Port also recorded the highest number of transactions valued at N7.6tn or 60.92 per cent of total imports, followed by Tin Can Island Port which accounted for goods valued at N1.42tn or 11.43 per cent, while Port-Harcourt (Onne) with N1tn or 8.10 per cent of total imports.