Steel export to Nigeria — ports, documents, transit time

SONCAP: the certificate that has to exist before the vessel sails

Nigeria operates a conformity assessment programme on regulated imports, and steel products fall inside it. The mechanics are fixed and unforgiving: the goods are inspected in the country of export, a certificate is issued against the declared standard, and the certificate is presented with the import documentation. Material that arrives without it does not clear.

The inspection is arranged before loading, which means the specification has to be final before the container is stuffed. Changing a thickness or a coating class afterwards invalidates the certificate and costs a re-inspection — normally a week, sometimes more if the inspector's schedule is full.

• Finalise grade, size and coating class before inspection is booked; changes afterwards are expensive.
• The certificate is issued against a named standard — say which one on the purchase order.
• Product certification and the shipment certificate are two different documents; confirm which the buyer needs.
• Mill certificates to EN 10204 3.1 travel with the consignment in addition to the conformity documents.

Form M, PAAR and why the order of events matters

The import process runs on a fixed sequence, and each step depends on the one before it. The Form M is opened by the importer with a bank before shipment; the pre-arrival assessment follows on the documents; clearance follows that. Nothing in the chain can be backdated.

The consequence for a supplier is that the proforma invoice is a structural document, not a formality. The description, the tariff heading, the values and the quantities on it flow through the whole chain, and a mismatch between the proforma and the final invoice stalls clearance even when the goods are correct. We keep the two identical and raise any change before shipment rather than after.

Ports, congestion and the cost that is not in the freight rate

Apapa and Tin Can Island handle most of the volume and both can hold containers far longer than the sailing took. Lekki has relieved some of that pressure for larger vessels, but a delivered cost into Lagos still has to carry an allowance for storage and demurrage that a Mediterranean port would not need.

Two practical decisions follow. First, container detention terms are worth negotiating up front rather than absorbing later. Second, for material going inland — Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt — the onward road leg is often the longer half of the journey and should be quoted, not assumed.

What sells into Nigeria

• Galvanized and pre-painted coil and sheet for roofing manufacturers and roll-forming plants.
• Trapezoidal and corrugated sheet, and the step-tile profiles the roofing market prefers.
• Galvanized pipe for water, fencing and light structural use.
• Hollow sections and purlins for warehouse and industrial frames.
• Sandwich panel for cold rooms and food processing, where the fire class is usually specified by the insurer.