Nigeria: Grain and Feed Update
Nigeria’s wheat imports in marketing year (MY) 2018/19 are forecast at 5.4 million metric tons (MMT), up 4 percent from the MY 2017/18 import figure of 5.2 million metric tons. FAS Lagos (Post) attributes the increase to millers’ greater access to foreign exchange. Food import bans are the cornerstone of the Nigerian government’s agricultural development and food security agenda. Nigeria imposes a 10 percent tariff and a 60 percent levy (totaling 70 percent) on imported rice (arriving by sea), when it authorizes the import. The official ban on rice imports through land borders remains, but is reportedly difficult to control. Post forecasts Nigeria’s rice imports in MY 2018/19 at 2.5 MMT, up 25 percent compared to the MY 2017/18 figure of 2 million metric tons.