Two things live here. Daily notes on the economic and industrial news that actually touches importing, manufacturing and factory cost, each one saying what it means for somebody about to spend money. And our longer writing, which comes out of work we have done for clients: sourcing equipment, costing imports, clearing goods at Lagos and getting them to site.
Most of it is written for people about to spend serious money, and it is meant to be useful before the money moves rather than after.
Latest industry and economic news
Currency, oil, freight, power, raw materials and regulation, with what each one means for a buyer.
- Oil Above Benchmark Lifts Government Revenue. It Does Not Lift Your Landed Cost Off YouCrude at 90 dollars against a 64.85 budget assumption is a genuine fiscal windfall. Why that reaches an importer slowly, indirectly, and much later than the cost side does.
- The 80 Micron Plastics Rule Is Still Unsettled, and That Is a Buying DecisionLagos already bans film below 40 microns. A proposed national 80 micron floor is contested by manufacturers. How to specify extrusion equipment into an argument nobody has won.
- A Contested Shipping Lane Reaches Your Container Before It Reaches the NewsWar risk premiums and rerouting move faster than freight indices. What an importer with goods already booked should check this week, and what to put in the next quotation.
- Resin Follows Crude. What a 90 Dollar Barrel Means for Plastics ProducersPolymer is made from oil and gas, so a sustained crude rally reaches your largest cost line. The producers who survive it are the ones who can calculate their cost per bag to the gram.
- Crude at 90 Dollars Changes the Grid Versus Generator ArithmeticSelf-generated power was already the more expensive option on Band A supply. A higher crude price widens that gap, and most factories have never actually run their own numbers.
- The Yuan Is Around 200 Naira. If Your Invoice Is in CNY, That Is Your Real RateAt 6.72 yuan to the dollar and 1,346 naira to the dollar, a yuan costs about 200 naira. Which currency your invoice is written in decides which number actually governs your payment.
- PZ Cussons Turns 260 Billion Naira of Revenue Into a 349 Per Cent Profit JumpConsumer manufacturing in Nigeria can be very profitable when currency exposure is managed. The detail behind the headline is more instructive than the headline.
- CBN Sells 700 Billion Naira of Treasury Bills on 3 September. Your Loan Rate Starts HereGovernment borrowing sets the floor under commercial lending. With the policy rate at 26.5 per cent, financing a machine is a bigger part of the decision than most buyers allow for.
- Naira Around 1,340 to the Dollar, and Why Oil Above Budget Benchmark HelpsThe naira held near 1,340 on 31 August, firmer than much of the year. Crude well above the budget benchmark is part of the reason, and it is not a reason to reuse an old rate.
- Chinese Factories Are Still Running Below Capacity. That Is Leverage for a BuyerChina’s manufacturing PMI came in at 49.8 for August, a fifth straight month below 50, while export orders turned positive. A supplier short of orders negotiates differently.
- The Economy Grew 4.43 Per Cent. Industry Grew 3.96. That Gap Is the StoryQ2 GDP beat the previous quarter, but industrial growth halved against a year earlier while services and agriculture pulled ahead. What that means if you are sizing a factory.
- Brent Hits $90 as Hormuz Tension Returns, and Three of Your Cost Lines Move at OnceCrude rose to $90.31 on 31 August after strikes around the Strait of Hormuz. Diesel, ocean freight and polymer resin all take their direction from that number.
Plastic bag manufacturing in Nigeria
A five-part series on whether the business works, what it costs, and what the regulation now demands. Best read in order.
- Why the opportunity survived the ban
What Lagos actually banned, and why a 40-micron floor removed your cheapest competitor. - The machines you need
Screw diameter, output by resin, lay-flat width and the gauge control nobody asks about. - Raw materials, costs and profit
How to weigh a bag, how many you get from a tonne, and what the micron rule did to your margin. - Distribution and bulk supply
The cash gap between paying for resin and being paid for bags, and how far you can profitably deliver. - Regulation and where it is heading
The proposed national 80-micron rule, and how to buy machinery into an unsettled position.
Buying and running industrial machinery
Why factories underperform, and what is decided before the equipment ever ships.
- Stop buying machines without a production strategy
Lean, agile or mass customisation, and why the demand pattern comes before the machine. - How the wrong machine quietly reduces profitability
Specification, energy, spares, downtime and financing over five years. - The hidden operational costs
Where a plant loses a fifth of its revenue without it appearing in the accounts. - Why manufacturing businesses struggle after setup
What a factory really burns each month, and how much runway it needs.
Exchange rates and import cost
Short notes on the currency conditions that decide what your supplier’s price becomes in naira. See the live rate board for current figures.
Have a question of your own?
If you are weighing a purchase and want a straight read on it, ask us. Sourcing direction, cost intelligence on a product, or an honest view on a factory idea. We do not charge for it.