NEW DELHI: Hiring for 3rd month in a row, India exports was marginally reduced by 0.8% in December 2020 even when the trade deficit expanded to $ 15.71 billion due to the increase in imports.
Exports in December 2020 stood at $ 26,890 million, compared to $ 27.11 in the same month of 2019, according to preliminary data published by the Ministry of Commerce on Saturday.
The rate of contraction of the country’s outbound shipments has improved from a drop of 8.74% in November, mainly due to increased shipments from certain sectors such as gems and jewelry, engineering and chemicals.
After a nine-month gap, imports in December posted positive growth of 7.6 percent to $ 42.6 billion. In February 2020, it had registered an increase of 2.48 percent.
“India is therefore a net importer in December 2020, with a trade deficit of $ 15.71 billion, compared to a trade deficit of $ 12.49 billion, widened by 25.78 percent.” the ministry said in a statement.
The trade deficit (the difference between imports and exports) of $ 15.71 billion was the highest since July 2020. The country had witnessed a trade surplus in June 2020.
In April-December 2020-21, the country’s merchandise exports contracted 15.8 percent to $ 200.55 billion, compared to $ 238.27 billion in the same period last fiscal year.
Imports during the nine months of the current fiscal year were down 29.08 percent to $ 258.29 billion. It was $ 364.18 billion in April-December 2019-20.
In December 2020, oil imports decreased 10.37 percent to $ 9.61 billion. During April-December, imports fell 44.46 percent to $ 53.71 billion, the ministry said.
The main commodities that have registered positive export growth during the month under review are oilseed meals (192.60%), iron ore (69.26%), carpets (21.12%), pharmaceutical products (17 , 44%), spices (17.06%). ), electronic products (16.44%), fruits and vegetables (12.82%) and chemical products (10.73%).
Other commodities on the positive side include cotton yarn / fabrics / apparel, handloom products (10.09%), rice (8.60%), meat, dairy and poultry products (6.79%), gems and jewelry (6.75%). percent), tea (4.47 percent) and engineering articles (0.12 percent).
Sectors that posted negative growth include petroleum products (-40.47 percent), oilseeds (-31.80 percent), leather and leather manufactures (-17.74 percent), coffee (-16, 39 percent), clothing of all textiles (-15.07 percent), artificial yarns / fabrics / garments (-14.61 percent), marine products (-14.27 percent), cashew nuts (-12, 04 percent), plastic and linoleum (-7.43 percent) and tobacco (-4.95 percent).
The main imported commodities with positive growth in December 2020 include legumes (245.15%), gold (81.82%), vegetable oil (43.50%), chemical products (23.30%), electronic products (20.90%) and machine tools. (13.46%), pearls, precious and semi-precious stones (7.81%) and fertilizers (1.42%).
The sectors that posted negative growth in December 2020 were silver, newsprint, transportation equipment, raw cotton and waste, coal, coke, and briquettes.
Commenting on the data, the president of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO), Sharad Kumar Saraf, said that the marginal decline of just 0.8 percent shows signs of revival as reserve positions of Orders have continually improved.
“Following this trend, we expect our inventories to be sold off, which will further increase overall demand,” he added.
Saraf urged the government to address some of the key issues, including the proper availability of containers, the easing of freight rates, the release of required benefits from the MEIS (Goods Export Scheme of India) and clarity on the benefits of SEIS (India Services Export Scheme), and troubleshooting risky exporters.
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