Manufacturers saddled with N149.23bn unsold goods from 2018

THE Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said that the inventory of unsold manufactured goods stood at N149.23 billion at the end of 2018.

According to MAN, the figure is lower by N10.36 billion (6.9 percent) from N159.59 billion in the corresponding period of 2017.

The Association blamed the problem of huge unsold goods on low real consumption due to inflationary pressure; smuggling, counterfeiting and cloning of Nigerian manufactured products as well as high cost operating environment.

MAN stated in the inventory report: “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).

“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.’’

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The report further showed that in the first half of 2018, Ogun zone recorded the highest inventory of unsold manufactured goods with the value of N57.30 billion (38.4 percent); Ikeja zone recorded N36.76 billion (or 24.6 percent): while Apapa zone recorded N35.76 billion, representing 24.0 percent of the total inventory In the period.

According to the report, inventory of unsold goods in Ogun zone stood at N57.30 billion in the first half of 2018 down by N9.06 billion (13.7 percent) and N3.28 billion (5.4 percent) from N66.36 billion recorded in the corresponding half of 2017 and N60.58 billion of the corresponding half respectively.

“Although inventory in the zone is gradually slowing, it was as a result of poor road network as heavy industries in Nigeria such as iron and steel, cement as well as plastics are located in the zone. Likewise, these industries exhibit high inventory of unsold manufactured goods”, MAN said.

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