Prices of rice, beans, maize soar at Lagos market

The prices of commodities like imported rice, maize , beans, palm oil, sorghum and others have continued to rise at the Mile 12 Market in Lagos. This is reflected in the commodity index update, prepared by Novus Agro Nigeria Ltd, an agro-based firm, and made available to newsmen on Friday in Lagos.

According to the index, a 50kg bag of imported rice currently selling at N16,857 was sold for N14,800 last week, thus recording a whopping N2,057 increase. Miss Avaado Gaadi, Enumeration specialist at the firm, told pressmen earlier that increase in the price of imported rice was as a result of restrictions on imported commodities.

Gaadi said that the restriction was to uphold the Federal Government’s drive to diversify the economy, through promoting consumption of locally-produced commodities.

Meanwhile, the paint bucket measurement of imported rice has also increased to N1,457 as against N1,333 sold last week. Also, a 100kg bag of beans, which has been on a continuous increase since June, now attracts N25,714, as against N24,000 it attracted last week; while the paint bucket measurement remained stable at N900.

However, the 100kg bags of maize, sorghum, onions and 25-litre container of palm oil were on the increase at the market. Maize attracted N12,829, as against N11,375 it was sold for last week, recording a difference of N1,454, while the paint bucket measurement increased slightly from N500 to N507.

Sorghum now selling for N11,571 was sold for N10,313 last week, thus attracting an increase of N1,258, while the paint bucket measurement increased from N500 to N507. Also, onions increased slightly to N16,143 from N16,125, recording N18 increment, while the 2kg measurement remained unchanged at N500.

A 25-litre keg of palm oil increased to N7,286 from N7,063 it sold for last week, while the bottle measurement also increased from N250 last week to N280 this week.

While soya beans remained unchanged at N17,000 per 100kg bag, the 60kg and 100kg bags of garri and groundnut dropped in price. Garri, which now goes for N12,614, was sold for N12,763 last week; while groundnut now sells for N25,000, as against the N25,500 it attracted last week. However, the paint bucket measurement of both commodities remained unchanged at N600 and N950 respectively.

Source: Vanguard Nigeria