By Godwin Oritse

FOLLOWING the outbreak of Coronavirus that has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, WHO, there has been an increase in the importation of ammonium into Nigeria.

Ammonium hydroxide is used as a cleaning agent and sanitizer in many households and industrial cleaners. Ammonium hydroxide is also used in the manufacture of products such as fertilizer, plastic, rayon and rubber.

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Vanguard Maritime Report analysis of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, import statistics otherwise known as shipping position, from Lagos Pilotage District showed that  ammonium and steel recorded a whopping 3.590.640 million metric tonnes as expected imports  imported into the country in the month of March, thereby leading the import chart for the month.

Petroleum Motor Spirit, PMS, recorded the recorded second largest commodity with 274,009 metric tonnes for the month in focus

Of the volume, about 27,500 metric tonnes of this was Automated Gas Oil, AGO, otherwise known as diesel while Low pour fuel oil recorded 8,500 metric tonnes brought into Calabar port.

It was also indicated that the confectionary industry also received a boost as a total of 168, 688 metric tonnes of bulk wheat was being expected before the end of March as some of the wheat imports have arrived the country.

Other imports that made the statistical document include bulk sugar with 91, 615metric tonnes and over 5,822 while frozen fish recorded 7, 742 metric tonnes, as Gypsum and Bitumen recorded 13,100 metric tonnes and 4,400 metric tonnes respectively

Another surprising commodity that made it to import chart was petcoke which recorded a total of 50,000 metric tonnes in the month of March.

Petcoke is the coke that is derived from a final cracking process – a thermo-based chemical engineering process that splits long chain hydrocarbons of petroleum into shorter chains – that takes place in units termed coker units.

It was also gathered that most of the bulk wheat were discharged at Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited inside the nation’s premier port in Lagos.

Vanguard