Nigeria is Thailand's largest rice-export market, particularly for parboiled rice. Exports to this market account for 11.5 per cent of Thailand's rice exports.
Rice exports to Nigeria dropped 12.09 per cent to US$379.9 million (Bt12.68 billion) in the first eight months of the year.
Thai Rice Exporters Association president Chookiat Ophaswongse said local rice exports to Nigeria had plunged in the past month.
"Nigerian importers have delayed Thai-rice imports, because they're facing financial difficulties. The Nigerian government is now inspecting all banks in that country to determine whether credit was approved for traders intending to evade high import tariffs," said Chookiat.
However, Chookiat believes the problem will soon be solved.
Rice imports to Nigeria are subject to a 40-per-cent tariff. The country normally imports 250,000-300,000 tonnes of Thai rice a month.
Recently, it was reported that shares in five Nigerian banks bailed out by the government last week had been suspended.
The five banks are Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Finbank, Oceanic Bank and Union Bank, which received a combined injection of 400 billion naira (Bt88.92 billion).
The value of shares in the banks tumbled after the bail-out and the sacking of the banks' bosses, prompting a halt in trading.
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