The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN)’s Economic Review for Second Half of 2019 report released in Executive Summary format over the week disclosed that the inventory of unsold finished manufactured goods dropped marginally in the sector to at N202.16 billion by N23.73 billion (10.5 percent) when compared with N225.89 billion recorded in the corresponding half of 2018.
However, the report disclosed that the increased by N1.9 billion (0.9 percent) when compared with N200.26 billion recorded in the first half of 2019. Inventory of unsold finished goods in the sector totaled N402.42 billion in 2019 and N375.42 billion in 2018.
The MAN report stated that the development can have attributed to the closure of land borders of the country within the ECOWAS regions which made Nigerians resulting to the purchase more of locally manufactured goods in the period.
The breakdown of inventory of unsold manufactured goods in the period under review showed the Basic Metal, Iron & Steel Fabricated Metal group (31.5 percent); Chemical and Pharmaceutical sector (24.5 percent): Food, Beverage and Tobacco (12.2 percent); and Domestic/Industrial Plastic, Rubber & Foam as (6.5 percent).
While inventory of unsold manufactured goods in Basic Metal, Iron & Steel Fabricated Metal stood at N63.7 billion in the second half of 2019, representing N1.9 billion and N5.68 increase from N61.8 billion and N58.02 billion recorded in the second half of 2018 and first half of 2019 respectively.
Also inventory of unsold manufactured goods in the group totaled N121.72 billion in 2019 and N98.18 billion in 2018.