Findings revealed that the import will hit $227 Million at the 2016/2017 price of $242.5 per metric ton. Already, local production has dropped to 70,000 metric tons, a decline of over seven per cent from the 2015 estimate of 75,000 tons.
It is also expected that the decline in local production, which was linked with poor infrastructure, would prevent local supplies from meeting the rising sugar consumption in the country over the next five years.
Also, a data from United States Department of Trade (USDT) revealed that the Nigeria imported 1,470,000 metric tons of sugar in 2015. In the last seven years, the country has imported 9,975,000 metric tons of sugar through the Lagos Ports Complex.
A data obtained through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)’s shipping position, revealed that in 2008, some 1,485,000 were ferried to the country; 2009 – 1, 185, 000 metric tons; 2010 – 1,431, 000 metric tons; 2011- 1,495, 000 metric tons; 2012 – 1,399,000 metric tons; 2013 -1,450,000 metric tons and 2014, 1,470,000 metric tons.
A study by the National Sugar Development Council revealed that Nigeria would need $1.238 billion to meet 49 per cent or 860,000 metric tons of the total sugar demand by 2020. The country still depends on refined imported raw brown sugar from Brazil worth over $500 million annually.
