Nigeria made a total profit of N506.5 billion from international trade in the second quarter of 2017, down from N719.4 billion recorded in the first quarter of the year.

The Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics for the second quarter of this year released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that total trade was N5.70 trillion in the second quarter, being 7.7 per cent higher than the value recorded for first quarter of 2017.

The report revealed that the total export value for the second quarter stood at N3.10 trillion, representing an increase of 73.48 per cent over the first quarter of the year.

The total imports value of N2.60 trillion in the second quarter of 2017 was 13.51 per cent higher than the first quarter and 9.97 per cent higher than second quarter of 2016.

An analysis of the report showed that the total value of agricultural goods export in the second quarter of 2017 jumped by 94.05 per cent from the value recorded at the first quarter of 2017.

The report revealed the major traded agricultural products such as cashew nuts, sesame seeds, frozen shrimps and prawn as well as ginger, flour and meals of soya beans.

The report showed that the raw material exports value increased by 31.8 per cent in Q2 2017 against the level in first quarter of 2017 but 206.4 per cent higher than second quarter of 2016.

However, solid minerals exports decreased by -27.58 per cent in second quarter of 2017 compared to the first quarter of 2017 but were 122.01 higher than the value in the second quarter of 2016.

Energy goods exports value in the second quarter of this year was 117.84 per cent higher than the first quarter of 2017 while manufactured goods exports were 17 per cent lower than the value in the first quarter of 2017.

The report showed that crude oil exports in Q2 2017 were 2 per cent more than the value recorded in first quarter of 2017 but 63.25 per cent higher than the second quarter of 2016 while other oil products exports in the second quarter were 12.5 per cent more in value than in Q1 2017 but 117.33 per cent higher than Q2 2016.

Meanwhile, while the value of imported agricultural goods was 16.01 per cent higher than the value recorded in the first quarter of 2017, the value of raw material imports was 17.4 per cent more than the first quarter and solid minerals imports increased by 1,527.44 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2017.

The report also showed that energy goods imports in Q2 2017 were 177.77 higher than Q1 2017 and manufactured goods imports value was 9.5 per cent higher in Q2 2017 than the level in Q1 2017, while other oil products imports value was 6.4 per cent lower than in Q1 2017.