Urea has replaced Sesamum seeds as Nigeria’s biggest non-oil export product in the first quarter of 2022, data sourced from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown.
According to the statistical agency, Urea ranked the third-highest of Nigeria’s export with a total of 2.93 percent share of total exports for the first quarter of 2022, a sharp contrast compared to the corresponding period last year when Sesame seeds accounted for the highest chunk of Nigeria’s non-oil export.
The cost of Nigeria’s exportation of Urea stood at N208.39 billion in the first three months of 2022 compared to N16.77 billion in the first three months of 2021.
Raw materials exports rose by 504.17 percent in the first quarter of 2022 to N259.48 billion, from N42.95 billion in the first quarter of 2021. During the quarter, ‘Urea whether or not in aqueous solution’ was exported to Brazil at a value of N63.11 billion.
FBNQuest, an investment banking and asset management business of FBN Holdings plc, said the increase in urea exports can be linked to the start-up of operations at the Dangote Fertilizer facility.
This is following the commencement of export operations by the company to the US, India, Brazil amongst others.
Tunde Abidoye, Head of research of FBNQuest, explained Nigeria exporting more urea is good for the country in that it increases the export base and foreign exchange (FX) earnings from non-oil exports.
He further stated that “Dangote’s fertilizer has added to the production of urea in the country and the commencement of operations in Dangote’s fertilizer facility means that there are now more fertilizers being produced in Nigeria and it is available for exports.”
Compared to Notore fertilizer plant capacity of 500,000 metric tonnes for urea production, and Indorama Eleme fertilizer plant capacity of 1.4 million metric tonnes per annum, Dangote fertilizer plant remains the largest producing 3 million metric tonnes per annum of urea fertilizer.
Last March, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated a $2.5 billion fertilizer plant with which Africa’s most populous country hopes to contribute to the global supply amid the impact of increasing prices in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war.
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Buhari also stated that the plant is an endorsement of his administration’s target of food sufficiency, adding that it will reduce dependence on imported fertilizers and create employment for Nigerians.
Agriculture is a lifeline for Nigeria’s economy, contributing 25.8percent of its 173 billion dollars gross domestic product in 2021. However, farmers are sometimes constrained with limited supplies such as fertilizer and improved seedlings.
With the new fertilizer plant with a capacity of 3 million metric tons annually, Nigeria expects “a boom as fertilizer is now readily available in greater quantities and better quality,” said Buhari.
Across the world, high fertilizer costs already threaten farmers amid sanctions on Russia, a major global supplier of fertilizer, where authorities in March urged domestic producers to temporarily halt exports.
“The new plant will make Nigeria self-sufficient in fertilizer production with excess capacity to export to other African markets and the rest of the world,” said Aliko Dangote, the founder and current chairman and CEO of the Dangote Group.
“Our goal is to make fertilizer available in sufficient quantity and quality for our teeming farmers, assuring greater agricultural output,” Dangote said of operations in the fertilizer plant.
