Nigeria exported N682bn worth of aluminum alloy from January to September of 2024, analysis of Foreign Trade Statistics report has shown.
The report, which is produced by the National Bureau of Statistics tagged the product as ‘Unwrought aluminum alloys’ and thus exported in ingots, blocks, billets or slab forms.
A breakdown indicated that N84bn of the product was exported in the first quarter of 2024 followed by N480bn in the second quarter and N116bn in the third quarter.
Japan was the biggest importer of the product with N218.3bn total imports followed by China with N43.5bn.
Nigeria’s flourishing aluminum export is despite the country’s only smelting plant, Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) in Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, not in operation since 2000.
Recall that ALSCON was launched in 1997 but ceased operations in 2000. In 2007, United Company RUSAL (UC RUSAL), a Russian company, acquired an 85 per cent stake, with the remaining shares owned by the Nigerian government.
