The Association attributed the problem of huge unsold goods to “low real consumption due to inflationary pressure; smuggling, counterfeiting and cloning of Nigerian manufactured products as well as high cost operating environment”.
The report by Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper on Thursday quoted the association as saying that greater part of inventory of unsold manufactured goods in the period under review was observed in the Basic Metal, Iron & Steel Fabricated Metal group (N28.41 billion or 19.03 percent); Chemical and Pharmaceutical sector (N24.36 billion or 16.2 percent): Food, Beverage and Tobacco (N19.5 billion or 13.1 percent); and Domestic/Industrial Plastic, Rubber & Foam (N18.96 billion or 13.4 percent).
According to the association, the inventory of unsold finished goods in Basic Metal, Iron & Steel Fabricated Metal stood at N28.41 billion in the first half of 2018, representing N18.71 billion increased over N9.7 billion recorded in the corresponding half of 2017 and N2.98 billion (9.4 percent) of N31.39 billion of the preceding half.
“The recorded inventory in the sector is largely due to the sluggishness of global steel market following the US protectionist stance for its steel sector,’’ the association added. ($1=N305)