Nigeria Import-Export Trade Info Portal

Friday, July 29, 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Description: Iron (Fe) is a metallic element and composes about 5% of the Earth’s crust. When pure it is a dark, silvery-gray metal. It is a very reactive element and oxidizes (rusts) very easily. The reds, oranges and yellows seen in some soils and on rocks are probably iron oxides. The inner core of the Earth is believed to be a solid iron-nickel alloy. Iron-nickel meteorites are believed to represent the earliest material formed at the beginning of the universe. Studies show that there is considerable iron in the stars and terrestrial planets: Mars, the "Red Planet," is red due to the iron oxides in its crust.

Occurrence: Iron is one of the three naturally magnetic elements; the others are cobalt and nickel. Iron is the most magnetic of the three. The mineral magnetite (Fe3O4) is a naturally occurring metallic mineral that is occasionally found in sufficient quantities to be an ore of iron.

The principle ores of iron are Hematite, (70% iron) and Magnetite, (72 % iron). Taconite is a low-grade iron ore, containing up to 30% Magnetite and Hematite.

Hematite is iron oxide (Fe2O3). The amount of hematite needed in any deposit to make it profitable to mine must be in the tens of millions of tons. Hematite deposits are mostly sedimentary in origin, such as the banded iron formations (BIFs). BIFs consist of alternating layers of chert (a variety of the mineral quartz), hematite and magnetite. They are found throughout the world and are the most important iron ore in the world today. Their formation is not fully understood, though it is known that they formed by the chemical precipitation of iron from shallow seas about 1.8-1.6 billion years ago, during the Proterozoic Eon.

Taconite is a silica-rich iron ore that is considered to be a low-grade deposit. However, the iron-rich components of such deposits can be processed to produce a concentrate that is about 65% iron, which means that some of the most important iron ore deposits around the world were derived from taconite. Taconite is mined in the United States, Canada, and China.

Locations: There are over 3 billion tonnes of iron ore found in Kogi, Enugu, Niger, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Kaduna States. Iron is currently being mined at Itakpe (Kogi State), which is more or less at the center of the region of crystalline iron deposits. The large deposit of oolitic iron ores of Kogi and Enugu States are yet to be fully explored. Nigeria is one of the richest countries of the world as far as mineral resources are concerned including iron ores. The estimates of workable iron ore deposits stand in excess of 3 billion tones most of which belong to hematite, hematite-magnetite, hematite-geothite and siderite-geothite grades are found in Itakpe. However, Agbaja iron ore deposit (proven reserve – 1 billion metric tonnes) is the largest in Nigeria. Contrary to the 3 billion tonnes estimate, another school of taught argued that, Nigeria has the largest resources of iron ore on the West Coast of Africa, with inferred reserves estimated at 5 Billion tons. The iron content of the ores ranges from 15% to 65%, averaging 30-36.

Specifications:

Typically a buyer will require the following specification:

Specification	Percentage
Fe:	30-70%
Al2o3:	2.00%	Max
Sio2:	3.00%	Max
Sulphur:	0.003%	Max
Phosphorous:	0.06%	Max
Mn:	0.10%	Max

Uses: About 98% of iron ore is used to make steel - one of the greatest inventions and most useful materials ever created. While the other uses for iron ore and iron are only a very small amount of the consumption, they provide excellent examples of the ingenuity and the multitude of uses that man can create from our natural resources. Powdered iron: used in metallurgy products, magnets, high-frequency cores, auto parts, catalyst. Radioactive iron (iron 59): in medicine, tracer element in biochemical and metallurgical research. Iron blue: in paints, printing inks, plastics, cosmetics (eye shadow), artist colors, laundry blue, paper dyeing, fertilizer ingredient, baked enamel finishes for autos and appliances, industrial finishes. Black iron oxide: as pigment, in polishing compounds, metallurgy, medicine, magnetic inks, in ferrites for electronics industry.

Export market: The major export markets Iron ore is China. Other buyers next to china include India, Malaysia, United state, Indonesia, Australia and Hong Kong.

Export Price: Depending on the purity of the FOB price of Iron ore could vary from US100-250/MT.

Local price: Depending on the purity and type of Iron ore, the local market price at the loading point could vary from NGN15,000-NGN25,000/MT or more.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Product Profile: Coffee Beans

Description: The coffee bean is actually the seed, or pit, of the round, red cherry fruit of a tropical evergreen shrub. The coffee shrub grows up to 15 feet in height, and its branches grow thick with broad, waxy green leaves. In addition to the claret red clusters of coffee cherries, each coffee branch offers an abundance of luxuriant, jasmine-scented flowers.

There are two major species of coffee that are grown for commercial use, Coffea robusta and Coffea arabica. Robusta grows at lower elevations, has a higher yield per plant, and is more disease resistant than its arabica relative. Robusta beans are noteworthy for their harsh, dirty flavor and abundant caffeine-twice as much caffeine, in fact, as is found in arabica beans. Relatively low costs of production make robustas favorite with North American canned, or "institutional," coffee roasters.

The arabica species, which grows best at higher elevations, is the source of all of the world's great coffees. While there is more poor-tasting arabica than robusta in the world, this is simply a result of the fact that monumentally more arabica is grown. About 75 percent of the world's total production is arabica; at most, 10 percent of that is actually of "specialty" quality.

Harvest: The harvest season for the coffee produced from Nigeria extends from November till March.

Locations: The states that cultivate Coffee beans in commercial quantity in Nigeria are Abia, Taraba, Kogi and Plateau State.

Specifications:

· Type: Roasted Coffee

· Moisture: 13% max.

· Foreign matter: 1% max.

· Black & broken: 5% max

· Microbial content: Nil

Uses:

General Use: The single most popular use of coffee beans is their use in making coffee, one of the most popular beverages of present times. The versatility of coffee beans as a beverage enables them to be used in a variety of combinations, some of which include caffè lattes, cafe mochas, cappuccinos, frappuccinos and liqueur coffee among others. Apart from being used for making beverages, coffee beans have a number of less conventional uses. Ground coffee is a great odour neutralizer. If a power outage occurs, for example, and food in the freezer defrosts and spoils, fill a bowl with ground coffee and leave in the freezer overnight to remove any foul odours. Ground coffee can also be used to clean stain resistant surfaces. It has a mild and gentle abrasive element, smells fresh and is particularly good for ashtrays and greasy surfaces.

Commercial Use: Coffee beans consist mostly of endosperm that contains 0.8 - 2.5 % caffeine, which is one of the main reasons the plants are cultivated. Coffee is one of the world's most widely consumed beverages, making coffee beans a major cash crop, and an important export product for some countries. There are numerous species of coffee plants, but two species are predominantly consumed. Coffea Arabica is the most commonly consumed coffee plant, followed by Coffea Robusta which accounts for approximately 25% to 40% of the global coffee crop.

Industrial Use: A recent industrial use of coffee is in its inclusion in a sun filter composition, adapted for application to the human skin, which comprises a coffee extract consisting of a coffee bean oil which does not contain water soluble extracts. Used in various compositions the said coffee bean oil has been found to have a high absorption capacity to filter light selectively in the wavelength range of 280 to 320 nm and a low absorption capacity to filter light in the range above 320 nm.

Export market: The major buyers of coffee beans around the world are China and United State of America while the minor importers include Spain, South Korea, Turkey and Yemen.

Export Price: The FOB prices of shelled coffee beans range from USD300-500 /MT or even more depending on quality and time of year.

Local price: The local market price per MT ranges from NGN300, 000.00 to NGN400, 000.00 for the unshelled and the pure coffee beans is more than N500,000 per MT depending on the quality and the period of the year. This is really very high and thus makes the export of coffee beans from Nigeria unattractive.