India's Foreign Trade: 2007-08 (April-September)

RbiAnnouncementWeb

Asset Publisher

Back

Published on December 14, 2007

LISTEN

PDF ( 330526 )

India's Foreign Trade: 2007-08 (April-September)

India's Foreign Trade: 2007-08 (April-September)*

Provisional data on India’s merchandise trade for April-September, 2007 and commodity-wise details for April-June, 2007 have been recently released by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S). On the basis of these data the review has been prepared.

Highlights

   During September, 2007 India’s merchandise exports recorded a growth of 19.3 per cent, marginal improvement over 18.9 per cent in the previous month (August, 2007) but lower than 26.9 per cent in September, 2006. Exports during April-September, 2007 at 18.3 per cent showed a moderation compared with 27.1 per cent in April-September, 2006.

   Imports during September, 2007 showed a sharp deceleration at 2.3 per cent as compared with 30.5 per cent a year ago. During April-September, 2007, imports growth was marginally higher at 25.4 per cent than 23.1 per cent a year ago.

   Non-oil imports during the first half of 2007-08 (April-September) recorded a substantial increase at 35.4 per cent (15.4 per cent a year ago) and contributed to about 92 per cent of the growth in overall imports during this period.

 Oil imports during April-September, 2007 showed a sharp deceleration in growth at 6.1 per cent as against 41.2 per cent a year ago, mainly due to moderation in the growth of oil prices during April-September, 2007, while growth in volume of imports recorded higher growth.

   During April-September, 2007, the average price of the Indian basket of crude oil stood higher at US $ 69.2 per barrel as against US $ 67.1 per barrel a year ago.

   Trade deficit during the first half of 2007-08 (April-September) stood at US $ 37.0 billion, higher by US $ 11 billion than previous year (US $ 26.0 billion).

Exports

During the month of September, 2007 India’s merchandise exports witnessed a marginal improvement recording a growth of 19.3 per cent over the previous month of August, 2007 (18.9 per cent). This increase was, however, lower than the growth witnessed during September, 2006 (26.9 per cent) [Chart 1, Statement 1].

The overall exports, during the first half of 2007-08 (April-September, 2007) at US $ 72.2 billion showed a growth of 18.3 per cent, lower than 27.1 per cent during April-

Table A: India’s Merchandise Trade :
April-September
(US $ million)
Items	2006-07 R	2007-08 P
Exports	61,035	72,220
	(27.1)	(18.3)
Oil exports*	4,430	5,589
	(106.7)	(26.2)
Non-Oil exports*	24,652	29,499
	(15.3)	(19.7)
Imports	87,067	1,09,204
	(23.1)	(25.4)
Oil Imports	29,576	31,372
	(41.2)	(6.1)
Non-Oil Imports	57,491	77,832
	(15.4)	(35.4)
Trade Balance	–26,032	–36,984
* : Figures pertain to the April-June. P : Provisional. R : Revised. Note : Figures in parentheses show Percentage change over the previous year. Source : DGCI&S.

September, 2006 (Table A and Statement 2). Exports realization during the first six months formed around 45 per cent of the target fixed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industries for the year 2007-08 (US $ 160 billion) as compared with 49 per cent in the previous year (US $ 125 billion).

Commodity-wise data available for April-June, 2007 showed deceleration in exports growth across all the major commodity groups, excepting gems and jewellery.

Petroleum products, engineering goods, and gems and jewellery together contributed to 52 per cent of the overall export growth (Statement 3). While agriculture and allied products as also textiles and related products recorded decline in exports, chemicals and related products showed deceleration in exports growth. Reflecting this, their shares in

contribution to the overall export growth were lower than the corresponding period of the previous year (Chart 2).

Exports of agriculture and allied products declined by 0.2 per cent during April-June, 2007 as compared with an increase of 21.6 per cent recorded a year ago, due to decline in exports of major items such as sugar and molasses, marine products, cashew, cotton, tea and coffee. The decline in exports of agriculture and allied products during the current year is in sharp contrast with the growth trend witnessed in the recent years consistent with the global trend in agricultural trade (Box).

Exports of manufactured goods also exhibited deceleration in growth at 8.6 per cent (14.6 per cent a year ago) mainly due to decline in the exports of textiles and textile products and moderation in chemicals and related products and engineering goods. The deceleration in engineering goods exports (18.5 per cent as against 26.7 per cent a year ago) was on account of moderation in the exports of machinery and instruments, manufactures of metals and electronic goods. Chemicals and related products decelerated to 4.5 per cent (14.4 per cent a year ago) during April-June, 2007.

Exports of textiles and textile products showed a decline of 11.1 per cent as against an increase of 14.1 per cent a year ago. The continued slide in textile exports during the current year was triggered by decline in the exports of major items like readymade garments, cotton yarn, fabrics and made-ups. Exports to major markets like the US, Italy and Bangladesh also showed decline during this period. According to the US Department of Commerce, Office of Textiles and Apparel, during April-September, 2007, the US imports of textiles and apparel from India decelerated to 2.6 per cent in value terms (9.5 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year) and 1.5 per cent in quantity terms (16.5 per cent a year ago).

Gems and jewellery exports showed a significant increase at 21.0 per cent during April-June, 2007 as against 0.7 per cent a year ago, with higher exports to major markets (USA and Hong Kong). The latest data available from the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) for the period April-October, 2007 showed a 25.3 per cent growth in the exports of gems and jewellery over the corresponding period of the previous year.

During April-June, 2007, exports of petroleum products recorded a growth of 26.2 per cent, a sharp decline from 106.7 per cent a year ago. Petroleum products exports which recorded 60.5 per cent growth in 2006-07 showed a deceleration during the current year (Chart 3). Exports to principal markets like UAE have shown decline during April-June 2007 compared with the previous year.
Destination wise, India’s exports to European Union (EU), Eastern Europe and Africa showed accelerated growth, while exports to North America, OPEC and developing countries showed moderation during April-June, 2007 (Statement 4).

Box: Trade in Agricultural Products and Commodity Prices

The world agricultural trade which is susceptible to wide cyclical fluctuations, has witnessed a sharp upswing in recent years. The recent surge in agricultural exports benefitted mainly from the high commodity prices, while the agricultural production suffered steady decline in growth especially since 2004 (Table 1). The strong demand stemmed mainly from global economic growth, especially from emerging economies, such as China and a slow supply response are the generally attributed reasons for the price rise. Exports of agricultural products, including food registered an annual average growth of about 13 per cent during 2003 to 2006.

During the latter part of the twentieth century, prices of many of the agricultural products slumped, affecting the export earnings of several commodity-dependent developing countries. However, agricultural commodity prices staged a recovery since 2002, with the last two years witnessing consolidation (Chart 1). Among the primary commodities, prices of minerals, ores and metals were the major beneficiaries of price boom. Prices of copper, nickel, tungsten ore and zinc more than doubled during the period 2002-06. The current phase of price rise in primary products is also attributed to the expansion in demand for biofuels, which is closely linked to developments in energy prices (UNCTAD, 2007). Increased demand was experienced for commodities like maize and sugar which are used for the production of ethanol and vegetable oils for bio-diesel as well.

India’s agricultural exports also exhibited a similar pattern as witnessed at the global level. Exports of agricultural products from India in value terms

more than doubled from US $ 6.0 billion in 2000-01 to US $ 12.5 billion in 2006-07. Exports in value terms and prices measured in terms of unit value have shown steady rise since 2003-04 (Chart 2). However, the share of agriculture and allied products in the overall exports of India has been stagnated at about 10 per cent emanating from wide fluctuations in the exports of traditional items like tea, coffee, spices, etc.

Table 1: Trends in World Agricultural Production and Trade
(Annual percentage change)
		2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
(1) Agricultural Production (Volume terms)		1.5	2.5	5.0	1.5	1.0
(2) Agricultural Exports (Volume terms)		3.5	3.5	3.5	6.0	6.0
(3) Agricultural Exports (Value terms)		6.1	16.4	15.0	8.2	11.0
(4) Prices	(a) Food	–0.5	1.9	13.9	7.2	19.0
	(b) Vegetable oil seeds and oils	24.9	17.4	13.2	–9.5	5.0
	(c) Minerals, ores and metals	–2.7	12.4	40.7	26.2	60.3
Source: WTO International Trade Statistics, various issues; UNCTAD Trade and Development Report, 2006 and 2007

Imports

During April-September, 2007 India’s merchandise imports amounted to US $ 109.2 billion, recording a growth of 25.4 per cent (23.1 per cent a year ago). Non-oil imports at US $ 77.8 billion, contributed about 92 per cent of the overall growth in imports during the period, while oil imports showed sharp deceleration.

Imports of POL decelerated during April-September, 2007 (6.1 per cent as against 41.2 per cent a year ago) mainly due to moderated growth in crude oil prices, while quantity of imports remained higher than the previous year. The average price of Indian basket of crude oil at US $ 69.2 per barrel during April-September, 2007 was marginally higher by 3.1 per cent as compared with corresponding period of previous year (25.2 per cent) [(Table B)]. Quantity of POL imports during April-June, 2007 was higher by 17.9 per cent as compared with 16.7 per cent during the same period last year.

Non-oil imports recorded a growth of 35.4 per cent during April-September, 2007 (15.4 per cent a year ago). Commodity-wise details available for April-June, 2007 revealed that gold and silver was the major contributor to the growth (32.7 per cent) in non-oil imports followed by the capital goods (21.2 per cent). During the period, while the share of capital goods, coal, coke

Table B: Trends in Crude Oil Prices
(US $/barrel)
	Dubai	UK	US-	Indian
		Brent	WTI	Basket*
1995-96	16.2	17.5	18.8	16.7
2000-01	25.9	28.1	30.3	26.8
2001-02	21.8	23.2	24.1	22.4
2002-03	25.9	27.6	29.2	26.6
2003-04	26.9	29.0	31.4	27.8
2004-05	36.4	42.2	45.0	38.9
2005-06	53.4	58.0	59.9	55.3
2006-07	60.9	64.4	64.7	62.3
2006-07 (April-
September)	65.3	69.9	70.4	67.1
2007-08 (April-
September)	67.3	71.9	70.2	69.2
September 2006	59. 8	62.8	63.8	61.0
September 2007	73.3	77.1	79.9	74.8
* : Indian basket comprises 59.8 per cent ‘sour’ variety benchmarked by Dubai crude and 40.2 per cent of ‘sweet’ variety benchmarked by UK Brent crude. Source : International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics, World Bank’s CommodityPrice Pink sheet September, 2007 .

and briquettes, chemicals and metalliferrous ores and metal scrap in imports growth declined, the contribution of gold and silver, pearls, precious and semiprecious stones and iron and steel showed increase (Statement 5 and Chart 4).

Source-wise, China was the major source of imports (oil plus non-oil imports) during April-June, 2007, accounting for 10.7 per cent of total imports followed by Switzerland (7.0 per cent), UAE (6.0 per cent), Saudi Arabia (5.8 per cent), the US (4.9 per cent), Australia (4.6 per cent), Iran (4.3 per cent) and Germany (3.9 per cent) [Statement 6].

Trade Deficit

Trade deficit in September 2007 at US $ 4.4 billion was lower than US $ 6.1 billion a year ago facilitated by slower growth in imports. The overall trade deficit during April-September, 2007 at US $ 37.0 billion was higher by US $ 11.0 billion than the previous year (US $ 26.0 billion) [Statement 2]. The trade deficit on the oil account increased by US $ 2.1 billion during April-June, 2007 to reach US $ 11.4 billion, while the non-oil trade deficit increased by US $ 7.5 billion to US $ 10.1 billion.

Global Developments

Based on IMF, International Financial Statistics data, world exports registered a growth of 14.0 per cent (13.9 per cent a year ago) in the first seven months of 2007 (January-July). Exports from industrialized countries posted a higher growth of 13.1 per cent (10.4 per cent a year ago) while developing countries showed a moderation in growth at 15.2 per cent (18.6 per cent).

According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), during January-September, 2007, the US exports posted a higher growth (12.0 per cent growth) than imports (4.0 per cent). In the case of European Union, according to Euro Stat, trade showed a deceleration with exports showing a growth of 7.1 per cent during January-September, 2007 (11.3 per cent a year ago), and imports registering a growth of 4.0 per cent (18.0 per cent a year ago). Japan’s exports posted a growth of 13.6 per cent during January-September, 2007 (13.3 per cent a year ago) and imports grew by 8.4 per cent (16.9 per cent a year ago).

Among the emerging markets, China’s exports, according to Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, during January-September, 2007 increased by 27.1 per cent while imports grew by 19.1 per cent. Malaysia’s exports, according to the Department of Statistics, Malaysia, during the same period posted a growth of 0.1 per cent, while imports grew by 2.9 per cent. Thailand’s exports during January-September, 2007 increased by 16.1 per cent as compared with 16.0 per cent a year ago.

Statement 1 : India’s Foreign Trade - Sept. 2007
Year	Export			Import			Trade Balance
	Total	Oil	Non-Oil	Total	Oil	Non-Oil	Total	Oil	Non-Oil
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Rupees crore
2005-06	37,138	4,596	32,542	56,632	17,778	38,854	–19,494	–13,182	–6,312
	(16.4)	(55.2)	(12.5)	(30.4)	(49.8)	(23.1)

2006-07 R	49,486	7,307	42,179	77,611	23,808	53,803	–28,125	–16,501	–11,624
	(33.3)	(59.0)	(29.6)	(37.0)	(33.9)	(38.5)

2007-08 P	51,622	..	..	69,456	22,179	47,277	–17,834
	(4.3)			(-10.5)	(-6.8)	(-12.1)
US dollar million
2005-06	8,457	1,046	7,410	12,896	4,048	8,902	–4,439	–3,002	–1,491
	(22.2)	(62.9)	(18.1)	(36.9)	(57.2)	(30.1)

2006-07 R	10,730	1,584	9,146	16,829	5,162	11,666	–6,098	–3,578	–2,521
	(26.9)	(51.4)	(23.4)	(30.5)	(27.5)	(31.1)

2007-08 P	12,797	..	..	17,218	5,498	11,720	–4,421
	(19.3)			(2.3)	(6.5)	(0.5)
			SDR million
2005-06	5,768	714	5,054	8,795	2,761	6,034	–3,027	–2,047	–980
	(22.1)	(62.7)	(17.9)	(36.7)	(57.0)	(29.1)

2006-07 R	7,242	1,069	6,215	11,358	3,484	7,874	–4,116	–2,415	–1,658
	(25.6)	(49.8)	(23.0)	(29.1)	(26.2)	(30.5)
2007-08P	8,290	..	..	11,154	3,562	7,592	–2,864
	(14.5)			(-1.8)	(2.2)	(-3.6)
P : Provisional. R : Revised. .. : Not available. Note : Figures in brackets relate to percentage variation over the corresponding previous period. Source : DGCI & S.

Statement 2 : India’s Foreign Trade
Year	Export			Import			Trade Balance
	Total	Oil	Non-Oil	Total	Oil	Non-Oil	Total	Oil	Non-Oil
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
April-March
Rupees crore
2004-2005	375,340	31,404	343,935	501,065	134,094	366,971	–125,725	–102,690	–23,035
	(27.9)	(91.5)	(24.2)	(39.5)	(41.9)	(38.7)
2005-2006 R	456,418	51,533	404,885	660,409	194,640	465,769	–203,991	–143,107	–60,884
	(21.6)	(64.1)	(17.7)	(31.8)	(45.2)	(26.9)
2006-2007 P	571,779	84,520	487,259	840,506	258,572	581,935	–268,727	–174,052	–94,675
	(25.3)	(64.0)	(20.3)	(27.3)	(32.8)	(24.9)
			US dollar million
2004-2005	83,536	6,989	76,547	111,517	29,844	81,673	–27,981	–22,855	–5,127
	(30.8)	(95.9)	(27.0)	(42.7)	(45.1)	(41.8)
2005-2006 R	103,091	11,640	91,451	149,166	43,963	105,203	–46,075	–32,323	–13,752
	(23.4)	(66.5)	(19.5)	(33.8)	(47.3)	(28.8)
2006-2007 P	126,361	18,679	107,683	185,749	57,144	128,606	–59,388	–38,465	–20,923
	(22.6)	(60.5)	(17.7)	(24.5)	(30.0)	(22.2)
			SDR million
2004-2005	56,081	4,692	51,389	74,866	20,036	54,830	–18,785	–15,343	–3,442
	(25.6)	(88.0)	(21.9)	(36.9)	(39.2)	(36.1)
2005-2006 R	70,774	7,991	62,783	102,405	30,182	72,224	–31,632	–22,191	–9,441
	(26.2)	(70.3)	(22.2)	(36.8)	(50.6)	(31.7)
2006-2007 P	85,018	12,567	72,451	124,975	38,447	86,528	–39,957	–25,880	–14,077
	(20.1)	(57.3)	(15.4)	(22.0)	(27.4)	(19.8)
			April-Sept.
			Rupees crore
2005-2006	209,656	21,354	188,302	308,816	91,452	217,364	–99,160	–70,098	–29,062
2006-2007 R	280,275	45,719	234,556	399,815	135,815	264,000	–119,540	–90,096	–29,444
	(33.7)	(114.1)	(24.6)	(29.5)	(48.5)	(21.5)
2007-2008 P	295,233	..	..	446,421	128,247	318,174	–151,188
	(5.3)			(11.7)	(-5.6)	(20.5)
			US dollar million
2005-2006	48,033	4,892	43,141	70,751	20,952	49,799	–22,718	–16,060	–6,658
	(33.4)	(67.2)	(30.5)	(47.0)	(43.7)	(48.5)
2006-2007 R	61,035	9,956	51,079	87,067	29,576	57,491	–26,032	–19,620	–6,412
	(27.1)	(103.5)	(18.4)	(23.1)	(41.2)	(15.4)
2007-2008 P	72,220	5589 *	29499 *	109,204	31,372	77,832	–36,984
	(18.3)	(26.2)	(19.7)	(25.4)	(6.1)	(35.4)
			SDR million
2005-2006	32,534	3,314	29,220	47,921	14,191	33,730	–15,387	–10,878	–4,510
	(32.2)	(65.7)	(29.3)	(45.7)	(42.4)	(47.1)
2006-2007 R	41,300	6,737	34,563	58,915	20,013	38,902	–17,615	–13,276	–4,339
	(26.9)	(103.3)	(18.3)	(22.9)	(41.0)	(15.3)
2007-2008 P	47,341	..	..	71,584	20,564	51,019	–24,243
	(14.6)			(21.5)	(2.8)	(31.1)
P : Provisional. R : Revised. .. : Not available. * : Figures pertain to the month of April-June Note : 1. Figures in brackets relate to percentage variation over the corresponding period of the previous year. 2. Data conversion has been done using period average exchange rates. Source : DGCI & S.

Statement 3 : India’s Exports of Principal Commodities
(US $ million)
Commodity Group				April-June			Percentage Variation
				2005-06	2006-07	2007-08 P	(3)/(2)	(4)/(3)
1				2	3	4	5	6
I.	Primary Products			3,729.3	4,366.8	4,543.9	17.1	4.1
				(15.9)	(15.0)	(12.9)
	A.	Agricultural & Allied Products		2,280.6	2,773.6	2,768.3	21.6	–0.2
		of which:		(9.7)	(9.5)	(7.9)
		1.	Tea	83.0	87.8	71.6	5.8	–18.4
		2.	Coffee	110.1	127.2	115.7	15.5	–9.1
		3.	Rice	363.9	274.3	504.5	–24.6	84.0
		4.	Wheat	73.1	4.9	0.1	–93.3	–98.4
		5.	Cotton Raw incl. Waste	86.6	244.6	113.6	182.5	–53.6
		6.	Tobacco	65.2	88.0	104.8	35.1	19.0
		7.	Cashew incl. CNSL	171.6	135.8	125.4	–20.9	–7.7
		8.	Spices	112.6	141.9	211.8	26.0	49.3
		9.	Oil Meal	166.7	167.3	193.9	0.4	15.9
		10.	Marine Products	314.2	307.1	270.0	–2.3	–12.1
		11.	Sugar & Mollases	10.0	376.3	295.1	3676.7	–21.6
	B.	Ores & Minerals		1,448.6	1,593.2	1,775.6	10.0	11.4
		of which:		(6.2)	(5.5)	(5.1)
		1.	Iron Ore	909.4	858.4	981.2	–5.6	14.3
		2.	Processed Minerals	238.4	363.6	302.6	52.5	–16.8
II.	Manufactured Goods			16,838.7	19,291.4	20,941.6	14.6	8.6
	of which:			(71.6)	(66.3)	(59.7)
	A.	Leather & Manufactures		627.6	644.4	659.7	2.7	2.4
	B.	Chemicals & Related Products		3,406.1	3,896.2	4,072.0	14.4	4.5
		1.	Basic Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals & Cosmetics	2,020.3	2,463.8	2,622.3	22.0	6.4
		2.	Plastic & Linoleum	771.7	710.1	691.7	–8.0	–2.6
		3.	Rubber, Glass, Paints & Enamels, etc.,	463.6	552.0	586.4	19.1	6.2
		4.	Residual Chemicals & Allied Products	150.5	170.4	171.6	13.2	0.7
	C.	Engineering Goods		5,141.0	6,515.1	7,720.5	26.7	18.5
		of which:
		1.	Manufactures of metals	952.5	1,116.0	1,265.9	17.2	13.4
		2.	Machinery & Instruments	1,129.2	1,575.6	1,794.3	39.5	13.9
		3.	Transport equipments	1,265.2	1,336.1	1,688.8	5.6	26.4
		4.	Iron & steel	897.4	1,018.9	1,194.7	13.5	17.3
		5.	Electronic goods	449.2	638.1	647.9	42.0	1.5
	D.	Textiles and Textile Products		3,786.1	4,318.5	3,839.0	14.1	–11.1
		1.	Cotton Yarn, Fabrics, Made-ups, etc.	907.6	1,023.5	853.4	12.8	–16.6
		2.	Natural Silk Yarn, Fabrics Madeups, etc.
			(incl.silk waste)	110.2	105.3	100.1	–4.4	–5.0
		3.	Manmade Yarn, Fabrics, Made-ups, etc.	440.8	495.7	522.4	12.4	5.4
		4.	Manmade Staple Fibre	18.6	29.8	60.0	60.6	101.1
		5.	Woolen Yarn, Fabrics, Madeups, etc.	22.2	21.4	21.0	–3.5	–2.1
		6.	Readymade Garments	1,999.8	2,324.3	2,020.8	16.2	–13.1
		7.	Jute & Jute Manufactures	71.0	66.8	64.7	–5.8	–3.1
		8.	Coir & Coir Manufactures	28.9	30.8	30.2	6.8	–1.9
		9.	Carpets	187.0	220.7	166.3	18.0	–24.7
			(a) Carpet Handmade	183.3	216.7	163.8	18.2	–24.4
			(b) Carpet Millmade	0.0	0.0	0.0
			(c) Silk Carpets	3.7	4.0	2.5	7.7	–37.6
	E.	Gems & Jewellery		3,524.4	3,549.1	4,293.8	0.7	21.0
	F.	Handicrafts		117.7	110.3	62.3	–6.2	–43.5
III.	Petroleum Products			2,143.5	4,429.5	5,588.6	106.7	26.2
				(9.1)	(15.2)	(15.9)
IV.	Others			816.3	993.5	4,013.9	21.7	304.0
				(3.5)	(3.4)	(11.4)
Total Exports				23,527.7	29,081.3	35,088.0	23.6	20.7
P : Provisional. Note : Figures in brackets relate to percentage to total exports for the period. Source : DGCI & S.

Statement 4 : Direction of India’s Foreign Trade- Exports
(US $ million)
Group/Country				April-June			Percentage Variation
				2005-06	2006-07	2007-08 P	(3)/(2)	(4)/(3)
1				2	3	4	5	6
I.	O E C D Countries			10,305.3	11,767.8	13,493.7	14.2	14.7
	A.	E U		5,262.8	5,760.9	6,952.9	9.5	20.7
		of which:
		1.	Belgium	642.4	710.6	1,022.3	10.6	43.9
		2.	France	659.1	614.1	555.7	–6.8	–9.5
		3.	Germany	801.4	940.8	1,093.9	17.4	16.3
		4.	Italy	603.5	762.0	923.2	26.3	21.2
		5.	Netherland	505.8	466.5	784.9	–7.8	68.3
		6.	U K	1,185.2	1,280.2	1,465.0	8.0	14.4
	B.	North America		3,874.9	4,643.3	4,950.2	19.8	6.6
		1.	Canada	240.3	269.6	278.0	12.2	3.1
		2.	U S A	3,634.6	4,373.7	4,672.1	20.3	6.8
	C.	Asia and Oceania		836.6	986.1	1,039.4	17.9	5.4
		of which:
		1.	Australia	183.3	202.5	202.7	10.5	0.1
		2.	Japan	597.7	567.6	803.4	–5.0	41.6
	D.	Other O E C D Countries		331.0	377.5	551.2	14.0	46.0
		of which:
		1.	Switzerland	114.2	104.4	146.5	–8.6	40.3
II.	O P E C			3,278.4	4,922.3	6,390.8	50.1	29.8
	of which:
	1.	Indonesia		289.2	467.4	420.9	61.6	–9.9
	2.	Iran		176.0	438.1	674.2	148.9	53.9
	3.	Iraq		25.5	61.6	55.7	141.4	–9.6
	4.	Kuwait		128.1	150.3	153.2	17.3	1.9
	5.	Saudi Arabia		422.3	511.8	826.5	21.2	61.5
	6.	U A E		1,871.4	2,913.6	3,807.1	55.7	30.7
III.	Eastern Europe			450.6	530.0	746.0	17.6	40.8
	of which:
	1.	Romania		26.9	35.7	63.7	32.9	78.2
	2.	Russia		179.0	181.8	192.5	1.6	5.9
IV.	Developing Countries			9,445.4	11,809.1	14,342.4	25.0	21.5
	of which:
	A.	Asia		7,435.1	9,142.5	10,300.3	23.0	12.7
		a)	S A A R C	1,328.1	1,777.6	1,927.3	33.8	8.4
			1. Bangladesh	408.0	419.8	475.1	2.9	13.2
			2. Bhutan	28.9	14.2	18.3	–	28.4
			3. Maldives	14.6	14.0	17.4	–4.3	24.3
			4. Nepal	195.2	222.1	317.9	13.8	43.1
			5. Pakistan	166.7	428.2	406.5	156.9	–5.1
			6. Sri Lanka	489.3	644.1	644.6	31.6	0.1
			7. Afghanistan	25.5	35.2	47.7	38.1	35.6
		b)	Other Asian Developing Countries	6,107.0	7,364.9	8,373.0	20.6	13.7
			of which:
			1. People’s Rep of China	1,514.5	1,816.9	1,926.4	20.0	6.0
			2. Hong Kong	1,060.9	1,036.4	1,288.7	–2.3	24.3
			3. South Korea	382.9	392.5	515.1	2.5	31.2
			4. Malaysia	234.8	269.6	377.5	14.8	40.0
			5. Singapore	1,567.8	1,852.2	1,640.5	18.1	–11.4
			6. Thailand	248.8	325.0	300.7	30.6	–7.5
	B.	Africa		1,286.8	1,811.5	3,224.0	40.8	78.0
		of which:
		1.	Benin	22.9	23.9	48.9	4.2	104.7
		2.	Egypt Arab Republic	173.8	149.8	283.7	–13.8	89.4
		3.	Kenya	150.4	314.8	299.7	109.3	–4.8
		4.	South Africa	316.5	502.9	751.0	58.9	49.3
		5.	Sudan	89.9	107.3	78.8	19.4	–26.6
		6.	Tanzania	45.1	52.9	105.7	17.1	100.0
		7.	Zambia	16.4	19.4	40.6	18.0	109.8
	C.	Latin American Countries		723.5	855.2	818.0	18.2	–4.3
V.	Others			26.7	20.7	24.9	–22.6	20.6
VI.	Unspecified			21.2	31.4	90.2	48.5	186.7
Total		Exports		23,527.7	29,081.3	35,088.0	23.6	20.7
P : Provisional. Source : DGCI & S.

Statement 5 : India’s Imports of Principal Commodities
(US $ million)
Commodity Group				April-June			Percentage Variation
				2005-06	2006-07	2007-08 P	(3)/(2)	(4)/(3)
1				2	3	4	5	6
I.	Bulk Imports			13,503.2	19,045.7	24,860.2	41.0	30.5
				(39.3)	(46.5)	(43.9)
	A.	Petroleum, Petroleum Products		9,444.9	13,717.2	16,982.3	45.2	23.8
		& Related Material		(27.5)	(33.5)	(30.0)
	B.	Bulk Consumption Goods		609.7	679.2	955.9	11.4	40.7
		1.	Wheat	0.0	0.0	12.0	—	—
		2.	Cereals & Cereal Preparations	9.0	9.4	8.6	4.8	–8.6
		3.	Edible Oil	462.2	529.8	682.8	14.6	28.9
		4.	Pulses	92.6	139.7	252.3	50.9	80.6
		5.	Sugar	45.9	0.2	0.2	—	—
	C.	Other Bulk Items		3,448.6	4,649.3	6,922.0	34.8	48.9
		1.	Fertilisers	412.2	500.5	697.3	21.4	39.3
			a) Crude	80.4	85.9	126.8	6.8	47.7
			b) Sulphur & Unroasted Iron Pyrites	37.4	24.4	39.4	–34.6	61.1
			c) Manufactured	294.4	390.2	531.1	32.5	36.1
		2.	Non-Ferrous Metals	432.6	608.8	765.9	40.7	25.8
		3.	Paper, Paperboard & Mgfd. incl. Newsprint	251.8	313.1	334.3	24.3	6.8
		4.	Crude Rubber, incl. Synthetic & Reclaimed	120.9	139.7	180.7	15.5	29.4
		5.	Pulp & Waste Paper	144.5	151.9	176.5	5.1	16.2
		6.	Metalliferrous Ores & Metal Scrap	879.0	1,603.6	2,486.4	82.4	55.1
		7.	Iron & Steel	1,207.7	1,331.8	2,280.8	10.3	71.3
II.	Non-Bulk Imports			20,898.4	21,889.4	31,764.8	4.7	45.1
				(60.7)	(53.5)	(56.1)
	A.	Capital Goods		6,919.5	9,545.1	12,184.7	37.9	27.7
		1.	Manufactures of Metals	301.0	343.2	461.1	14.0	34.3
		2.	Machine Tools	228.5	282.9	404.3	23.9	42.9
		3.	Machinery except Electrical & Electronics	2,225.6	2,969.8	4,018.1	33.4	35.3
		4.	Electrical Machinery except Electronics	347.7	455.1	571.4	30.9	25.5
		5.	Electronic Goods incl. Computer Software	2,890.5	3,938.8	4,930.4	36.3	25.2
		6.	Transport Equipments	696.5	1,010.3	1,493.8	45.0	47.9
		7.	Project Goods	229.8	545.0	305.6	137.1	–43.9
	B.	Mainly Export Related Items		5,036.8	4,259.7	5,309.5	–15.4	24.6
		1.	Pearls, Precious & Semi-Precious Stones	2,746.7	1,811.5	2,312.2	–34.0	27.6
		2.	Chemicals, Organic & Inorganic	1,670.2	1,806.8	2,346.1	8.2	29.8
		3.	Textile Yarn, Fabric, etc.	489.2	541.5	558.8	10.7	3.2
		4.	Cashew Nuts, raw	130.8	100.0	92.5	–23.6	–7.5
	C.	Others		8,942.0	8,084.5	14,270.6	–9.6	76.5
		of which:
		1.	Gold & Silver	4,268.7	2,974.7	7,043.7	–30.3	136.8
		2.	Artificial Resins & Plastic Materials	505.1	617.7	847.0	22.3	37.1
		3.	Professional Instruments, etc., except electrical	470.0	556.1	729.4	18.3	31.2
		4.	Coal, Coke & Briquittes, etc.	958.4	1,069.7	1,481.3	11.6	38.5
		5.	Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Products	217.2	282.1	373.8	29.9	32.5
		6.	Chemical Materials & Products	251.4	355.7	352.9	41.5	–0.8
		7.	Non-Metallic Mineral Manufactures	143.9	181.6	206.3	26.2	13.6
Total Imports				34,401.6	40,935.1	56,625.0	19.0	38.3
Memo Items
	Non-Oil Imports			24,956.7	27,217.8	39,642.7	9.1	45.6
	Non-Oil Imports excl. Gold & Silver			20,688.0	24,243.1	32,599.0	17.2	34.5
	Mainly Industrial Inputs*			19,313.9	22,617.7	30,382.6	17.1	34.3
P : Provisional. * : Non oil imports net of gold and silver, bulk consumption goods, manufactured fertilizers and professional instruments. Note : Figures in brackets relate to percentage to total imports for the period. Source : DGCI & S.

Statement 6 : Direction of India’s Foreign Trade-Imports
(US $ million)
Group / Country				April-June			Percentage Variation
				2005-06	2006-07	2007-08 P	(3)/(2)	(4)/(3)
1				2	3	4	5	6
I.	O E C D Countries			12,644.2	13,143.8	19,476.0	4.0	48.2
	A.	E U		5,674.4	5,923.9	7,776.7	4.4	31.3
		of which:
		1.	Belgium	1,458.4	932.2	1,294.8	–36.1	38.9
		2.	France	380.0	460.5	525.7	21.2	14.2
		3.	Germany	1,417.2	1,751.4	2,180.9	23.6	24.5
		4.	Italy	415.4	541.7	801.4	30.4	47.9
		5.	Netherland	284.0	241.3	402.7	–15.0	66.8
		6.	U K	958.6	933.0	1,234.4	–2.7	32.3
	B.	North America		2,052.9	2,663.4	3,085.0	29.7	15.8
		1.	Canada	219.6	250.5	337.3	14.1	34.6
		2.	U S A	1,833.3	2,412.9	2,747.7	31.6	13.9
	C.	Asia and Oceania		2,237.0	2,700.5	4,168.0	20.7	54.3
		of which:
		1.	Australia	1,365.0	1,524.0	2,587.4	11.6	69.8
		2.	Japan	825.1	1,112.4	1,493.4	34.8	34.3
	D.	Other O E C D Countries		2,679.9	1,855.9	4,446.4	–30.7	139.6
		of which:
		1.	Switzerland	2,596.9	1,700.5	3,946.8	–34.5	132.1
II.	O P E C			2,679.8	13,395.2	17,008.6	399.9	27.0
	of which:
	1.	Indonesia		612.7	807.0	1,247.2	31.7	54.5
	2.	Iran		168.9	1,605.8	2,426.7	850.7	51.1
	3.	Iraq		0.7	1,407.1	1,476.3	—	—
	4.	Kuwait		72.5	1,489.7	1,470.6	1,955.3	–1.3
	5.	Saudi Arabia		351.0	3,259.2	3,284.6	828.5	0.8
	6.	U A E		1,266.1	2,274.7	3,408.6	79.7	49.8
III.Eastern Europe				1,012.2	904.4	1,229.6	–10.6	35.9
	of which:
	1.	Romania		88.4	57.2	121.2	–35.3	111.9
	2.	Russia		522.0	376.5	474.3	–27.9	26.0
IV.	Developing Countries			8,561.5	13,372.9	18,586.3	56.2	39.0
	of which:
	A.	Asia		6,905.8	10,732.3	14,621.5	55.4	36.2
		a)	S A A R C	311.2	398.1	396.1	27.9	–0.5
			1. Bangladesh	20.2	59.4	70.4	194.3	18.6
			2. Bhutan	24.8	24.4	47.0	–1.8	92.7
			3. Maldives	0.5	0.7	1.0	–	–
			4. Nepal	88.4	58.5	96.8	–33.8	65.5
			5. Pakistan	33.8	82.1	68.2	142.7	–16.9
			6. Sri Lanka	131.9	153.7	97.7	16.5	–36.5
			7. Afghanistan	11.5	19.3	15.0	67.5	–22.0
		b)	Other Asian Developing Countries	6,594.6	10,334.2	14,225.4	56.7	37.7
			of which:
			1. People’s Rep of China	2,348.6	3,650.2	6,079.6	55.4	66.6
			2. Hong Kong	499.1	565.0	709.5	13.2	25.6
			3. South Korea	995.1	1,079.4	1,375.8	8.5	27.5
			4. Malaysia	595.8	1,209.6	1,348.6	103.0	11.5
			5. Singapore	776.4	1,423.0	1,766.6	83.3	24.2
			6. Thailand	299.3	389.4	547.0	30.1	40.5
	B.	Africa		1,178.6	1,567.5	2,571.3	33.0	64.0
		of which:
		1.	Benin	41.1	36.3	30.8	–11.8	–15.0
		2.	Egypt Arab Republic	63.1	460.0	454.4	629.2	–1.2
		3.	Kenya	13.8	13.9	17.8	1.2	27.4
		4.	South Africa	702.2	684.9	996.9	–2.5	45.5
		5.	Sudan	7.9	8.9	110.3	13.1	1,132.5
		6.	Tanzania	8.4	10.0	14.0	19.8	39.7
		7.	Zambia	10.3	4.9	46.9	—	851.0
	C.	Latin American Countries		477.1	1,073.2	1,393.4	124.9	29.8
V.	Others			7.1	25.7	13.5	260.9	–47.6
VI.	Unspecified			9,496.8	93.0	311.0	–99.0	234.3
Total		Imports		34,401.6	40,935.1	56,625.0	19.0	38.3
P : Provisional. Note : The figures for 2006-07, which include country-wise distribution of petroleum imports, are not strictly comparable with the data for previous years. Source : DGCI & S.

* Prepared in the Division of International Trade, Department of Economic Analysis and Policy. Previous issue of the article was published in RBI Bulletin, November 2007.