India's Foreign Trade: 2009-10 (April-August)*

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Published on November 11, 2009

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India's Foreign Trade: 2009-10 (April-August)*

This article reviews India’s merchandise trade performance during April-August 2009 on the basis of data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S); disaggregated commodity-wise details for 2008-09 (April-March) are also analysed.

Highlights

India’s merchandise exports during August 2009 at US$ 14.3 billion recorded a decline of 19.4 per cent as against a rise of 40.2 per cent registered in August 2008. This is the eleventh successive month that exports have shown a decline since October 2008. However, the rate of decline in exports witnessed in August 2009 was the lowest during 2009-10 so far (April-August 2009), thereby exhibiting some signs of revival in exports.
During April-August 2009, exports at US$ 64.1 billion showed a decline of 31.0 per cent as against a high growth of 52.3 per cent during the corresponding period of 2008.
Imports during August 2009 at US$ 22.7 billion showed a decline of 32.4 per cent as against a substantial growth of 64.5 per cent in August 2008, due to decline in both oil and non-oil imports. This is the ninth successive month that imports have shown a decline since December 2008. The decline in imports during August 2009 was lower than that in July 2009 (decline of 37.1 per cent).
During April-August 2009, imports at US$ 102.3 billion recorded a decline of 33.4 per cent as against a growth of 52.1
per cent a year ago.
Petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) imports during April-August 2009 at US$ 28.3 billion showed a sharp decline of 47.4 per cent as against an increase of 86.6 per cent during April-August 2008, mainly due to substantial fall in international crude oil prices over the year. The average price of Indian basket of crude oil during April-August 2009 stood at US$ 62.7 per barrel (ranged between US$ 50.4 – US$ 71.8 per barrel), which was lower by 47.9 per cent than US$ 120.4 per barrel (ranged between US$ 106.0 – US$ 132.2 per barrel) during April-August 2008.
Non-POL imports during April-August 2009 at US$ 74.0 billion showed a decline of 25.9 per cent as against a growth of 38.4 per cent a year ago, reflecting a slowdown in domestic economic activity.
Trade deficit during April-August 2009 amounted to US$ 38.2 billion, a decline of US$ 22.6 billion (37.1 per cent) over US$ 60.7 billion in April-August 2008, mainly due to larger decline in oil imports.

India’s Merchandise Trade during 2009-10 (April-August)

Exports

India’s merchandise exports during August 2009 at US$ 14.3 billion recorded a decline of 19.4 per cent, as against a high growth of 40.2 per cent registered in August 2008 (Statement 1). This is the eleventh successive month that exports have shown a decline since October 2008. The rate of decline in exports, which reached the maximum at 33.2 per cent in April 2009, showed improvement during May-June 2009 as the rate of decline in exports showed reduction. But subsequently in July 2009, exports showed larger decline than in the previous month (June 2009). However, export performance considerably improved in August 2009, as the decline in exports in this month was much smaller than that in all the previous months in 2009-10, i.e., April-July 2009. As such, the rate of decline in exports witnessed during August 2009 was the lowest during 2009-10 so far (April-August 2009), thereby exhibiting some signs of revival in exports (Chart 1). The decline in exports was 33.2 per cent in April 2009, 29.2 per cent in May 2009, 27.7 per cent in June 2009, 28.4 per cent in July 2009 and 19.4 per cent in August 2009. Cumulatively, exports during the first five months of 2009-10 (April-August 2009) stood at US$ 64.1 billion, posting a decline of 31.0 per cent as against a high growth of 52.3 per cent during April-August 2008 (Table 1 and Statement 2).

Table 1: India's Merchandise Trade: April-August
(US $ billion)
Items	2008-09 R	2009-10 P
	April-August
1	2	3
Exports	93.0	64.1
	(52.3)	(-31.0)
Oil Exports	16.0	..
	(50.8)
Non-Oil Exports	77.0	..
	(52.6)
Imports	153.7	102.3
	(52.1)	(-33.4)
Oil Imports	53.7	28.3
	(86.6)	(-47.4)
Non-Oil Imports	99.9	74.0
	(38.4)	(-25.9)
Trade Balance	-60.7	-38.2
Oil Trade Balance	-37.8	..
Non-Oil Trade Balance	-23.0	..
R : Revised. P : Provisional. .. Not available. Note : Figures in parentheses show percentage change over the corresponding period of the previous year. Source : Compiled from Ministry of Commerce and Industry and DGCI&S data.

The latest commodity-wise exports data released by DGCI&S for 2008-09 revealed that manufactured goods continued to maintain the largest share at 67.2 per cent, followed by petroleum products (14.7 per cent) and primary products (13.9 per cent). Moreover, the share of manufactured goods has increased along with decrease in shares of petroleum products and primary products (Table 2).

During 2008-09, exports of major commodity groups slowed down. However, engineering goods exhibited a marginally higher growth and gems and jewellery showed substantially accelerated growth. Exports of agricultural and allied products, ores and minerals and petroleum products declined, while those of leather and manufactures, chemicals and related products, and textiles and textile products showed deceleration in growth during the period (Statement 3).

Exports of primary products during 2008-09 declined by 8.1 per cent as against a growth of 40.0 per cent a year ago, due to decline in its major components. Within primary products, agricultural and allied products exports at US$ 17.5 billion showed a decline of 4.9 per cent as against a high growth of 45.3 per cent during previous year. Slowdown in agricultural and allied products exports was mainly due to decline in exports of rice, cotton, marine products,sugar and molasses and deceleration in export growth of tea, coffee, spices and oil meal. Ores and minerals exports declined by 14.5 per cent during the period (30.2 per cent growth a year ago), mainly due to decline in iron ore.

Table 2: India's Exports of Principal Commodities
(Percentage Shares)
Commodity Group	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
Commodity Group	April-March
1	2	3	4
I.Primary Products	15.6	16.9	13.9
Agriculture and
Allied Products	10.0	11.3	9.6
Ores and Minerals	5.5	5.6	4.3
II. Manufactured Goods	67.2	63.2	67.2
Leather and Manufactures	2.4	2.2	1.9
Chemicals and Related
Products	13.7	13.0	12.4
Engineering Goods	23.4	22.9	25.9
Textiles and Textile
Products	13.7	11.9	11.0
Gems and Jewellery	12.6	12.1	15.2
III. Petroleum Products	14.7	17.4	14.7
IV. Others	2.5	2.5	4.2
Total Exports	100.0	100.0	100.0
Source: Compiled from DGCI&S data.

Exports of manufactured goods during 2008-09 at US$ 122.8 billion exhibited deceleration in growth to 19.3 per cent from 21.3 per cent a year ago, due to deceleration/ decline in its major components. Within manufactured goods, exports of engineering goods, which is the largest item in India’s exports, at US$ 47.3 billion showed marginally higher growth at 26.5 per cent on the top of 26.4 per cent growth a year ago. Growth in engineering goods exports was contributed largely by its largest component, viz., transport equipments, as also iron and steel and electronic goods. The share of engineering goods in total exports has gone up remarkably during 2008-09 to 25.9 per cent from 22.9 per cent, as a result of high growth maintained by engineering goods in contrast with slowdown in most of the other major commodity groups.

Chemicals and related products exports during 2008-09 at US$ 22.6 billion showed moderation in growth to 6.8 per cent from 22.3 per cent during 2007-08. The slowdown in the exports of chemicals and related products was primarily due to deceleration in growth of its largest component, viz., ‘basic chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics’ as also in other major components, and the decline in plastic and linoleum.

Exports of textiles and textile products during 2008-09 at US$ 20.0 billion showed a sharp moderation in growth to 3.0 per cent from 11.8 per cent a year ago. Among major components of textiles and textile products, cotton yarn, fabrics and made-ups declined and manmade yarn, fabrics and made-ups exhibited a deceleration in growth. However, readymade garments witnessed a higher growth.

Gems and jewellery exports during 2008-09 at US$ 27.7 billion recorded an accelerated growth at 40.8 per cent (growth of 23.2 per cent a year ago). Gems and jewellery became the second largest item in India’s exports during 2008-09 with a higher share of 15.2 per cent than 12.1 per cent in 2007-08.

Exports of petroleum products at US$ 26.8 billion during 2008-09 registered a decline of 5.4 per cent as against a high growth of 52.2 per cent a year ago. This was the result of overall decline in world oil prices during August 2008-March 2009 (Chart 3), as also fall in the volume of petroleum products exports. The volume of these exports declined by 6.9 per cent during the period as against the growth of 21.0 per cent a year back, as a result of reduction in demand for petroleum products from India’s major markets consequent upon a slowdown in world industrial activity.

Destination-wise, during 2008-09, among the regions, developing countries and OECD countries were the major markets for India’s exports with these groups accounting for 37.6 per cent and 37.4 per cent shares, respectively (Table 3). Another major contributor was OPEC with 21.2 per cent share. During 2008-09 the share of OPEC increased significantly to 21.2 per cent from 16.6 per cent in 2007-08, while the shares of both developing countries and OECD countries declined. Country-wise, the UAE became the single largest destination for India in 2008-09, with a share of 13.1 per cent in India’s total exports (9.6 per cent in 2007-08) thereby replacing the US which remained India’s largest export market for a number of years. The UAE was followed by the US (11.4 per cent), China (5.1 per cent), Singapore (4.5 per cent), Hong Kong (3.6 per cent) and the UK (3.6 per cent). Direction of India’s exports during 2008-09 indicated that the exports to Asia and Oceania, Asian developing countries and African developing countries declined; exports growth to the EU, North America, Eastern Europe and Latin American developing countries decelerated, while exports to OPEC showed accelerated growth (Statement 4). Thus the trends in 2008-09 show the shift in geographical focus as regards destination of India’s exports in an aftermath of global economic crisis.

Table 3: India's Exports to Principal Regions
(Percentage Shares)
Region/Country	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
Region/Country	April-March
1	2	3	4
I. OECD Countries	42.0	39.5	37.4
EU	21.2	21.2	21.3
North America	15.8	13.5	12.1
US	14.9	12.7	11.4
Asia and Oceania	3.4	3.2	2.5
Other OECD Countries	1.6	1.6	1.4
II. OPEC	16.6	16.6	21.2
III. Eastern Europe	1.2	1.1	1.1
IV. Developing Countries	39.9	42.5	37.6
Asia	29.8	31.6	28.1
SAARC	5.1	5.9	4.6
Other Asian
Developing Countries	24.6	25.7	23.5
Africa	6.9	7.5	6.3
Latin America	3.3	3.4	3.1
V. Others / Unspecified	0.4	0.4	2.7
Total Exports	100.0	100.0	100.0
Source: Compiled from DGCI&S data.

Imports

Imports during August 2009 at US$ 22.7 billion showed a decline of 32.4 per cent as against a high growth of 64.5 per cent recorded in August 2008. This was due to decline in both POL and non-POL imports. However, the decline in POL imports continued to be much sharper than that in non-POL imports (Statement 1 and Chart 1). The fall in imports started since December 2008. The rate of decline in imports progressively deteriorated thereafter, and reached its maximum in May 2009 (39.2 per cent decline). It improved considerably in June 2009 to 29.3 per cent, but again deteriorated in July 2009 to 37.1 per cent. The decline in imports during August 2009 was lower than that in July 2009. During April-August 2009 imports at US$ 102.3 billion registered a decline of 33.4 per cent (52.1 per cent growth a year ago) [Table 1 and Statement 2].

POL imports at US$ 28.3 billion during April-August 2009 showed a substantial decline of 47.4 per cent, as against a high growth of 86.6 per cent a year ago, primarily due to sharp reduction in international crude oil prices over the period. The average price of Indian basket of crude oil during April-August 2009 stood at US$ 62.7 per barrel (ranged between US$ 50.4 – 71.8 per barrel), which was lower by 47.9 per cent than US$ 120.4 per barrel (ranged between US$ 106.0 – 132.2 per barrel) during April-August 2008 (Table 4). Non-POL imports at US$ 74.0 billion recorded a decrease of 25.9 per cent during April-August 2009 as against a growth of 38.4 per cent in April-August 2008 due to reduction in domestic demand as a result of moderation in economic growth.

Table 4: Trends in Crude Oil Prices
(US $/barrel)
Period	Dubai	Brent	WTI*	Indian Basket**
1	2	3	4	5
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	39.2
2005-06	53.4	58.0	59.9	55.7
2006-07	60.9	64.4	64.7	62.4
2007-08	77.3	82.4	82.3	79.5
2008-09	82.1	84.7	85.8	82.7
August 2008	113.2	113.9	116.6	113.5
August 2009	71.3	72.5	71.1	71.8
* West Texas Intermediate. The composition of Indian basket of crude represents average of Oman and Dubai for sour grades and Brent (dated) for sweet grade in the ratio of 63.5:36.5 w.e.f. April 1, 2009. Sources:** International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics; World Bank’s Commodity Price Pink Sheet for September 2009; Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.

The commodity-wise imports data for 2008-09 indicated that POL imports at US$ 91.3 billion showed a deceleration in growth to 14.6 per cent from 39.9 per cent a year ago, mainly due to sharp reduction in international crude oil prices during August 2008-March 2009, as also due to slowdown in the growth of volume of POL imports, which moderated to 9.4 per cent from 10.1 per cent a year ago (Statement 5).

Non-POL imports during 2008-09 at US$ 200.2 billion witnessed moderation in growth to 16.5 per cent from 33.4 per cent during the previous year. Slowdown in non-POL imports was mainly due to sharp deceleration in import growth of capital goods (0.6 per cent growth as compared with a growth of 49.0 per cent a year ago), gold and silver (4.6 per cent growth in comparison with 22.0 per cent growth during 2007-08), iron and steel and chemicals and the decline in imports of metalliferrous ores and metal scrap. However, imports of pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, fertilisers and coal, coke and briquettes exhibited substantially higher growth during the year. During 2008-09 the shares of chemicals, coal, coke and briquettes, fertilisers and pearls, precious and semi-precious stones in total imports went up, while those of petroleum, crude and products (single largest component of imports), capital goods, gold and silver, metalliferrous ores and metal scrap and iron and steel came down during the year (Table 5).

Table 5: Imports of Principal Commodities
(Percentage Shares)
Commodity/Group	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
	April-March
1	2	3	4
1.Petroleum, crude and products	30.7	31.7	31.3
2. Capital Goods	25.3	27.9	24.2
3. Gold and Silver	7.9	7.1	6.4
4.Organic and inorganic chemicals	4.2	3.9	4.2
5. Coal, coke and briquettes, etc.	2.5	2.6	3.4
6. Fertilisers	1.7	2.2	4.7
7. Metalliferrous ores, metal scrap, etc.	4.5	3.1	2.7
8. Iron and Steel	3.5	3.5	3.2
9. Pearls, precious and semi-precious stones	4.0	3.2	5.0
10. Others	15.8	14.8	14.9
Total Imports	100.0	100.0	100.0
Source: Compiled from DGCI&S data.

Source-wise, during 2008-09, developing countries had the highest share in India’s imports (32.9 per cent), followed by OPEC (32.6 per cent) and OECD countries (31.8 per cent) [Table 6]. This was in contrast with 2007-08 when OECD countries had the highest share in India’s imports. Country-wise, China continued to be the single largest source of imports with the share of 10.8 per cent in total imports, followed by the UAE (7.1 per cent), Saudi Arabia (6.7 per cent), the US (6.2 per cent), Iran (4.2 per cent) and Germany (4.0 per cent). Direction of India’s imports during 2008-09 indicated that imports from North America and Latin American developing countries declined and growth of imports from the EU, Asia and Oceania, OPEC, Asian and African developing countries decelerated, while imports from Eastern Europe witnessed turnaround (Statement 6).

Table 6: Shares of Groups/Countries in India’s Imports
(Percentage Shares)
Region/Country	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
	April-March
1	2	3	4
I.OECD Countries	35.2	35.4	31.8
EU	16.1	15.3	14.3
France	2.3	2.5	1.6
Germany	4.1	3.9	4.0
UK	2.2	2.0	2.0
North America	7.3	9.1	7.1
US	6.3	8.4	6.2
Asia and Oceania	6.4	5.8	5.6
Other OECD Countries	5.5	5.2	4.8
II. OPEC	30.4	30.7	32.6
III. Eastern Europe	2.1	1.5	2.3
IV. Developing Countries	31.9	31.5	32.9
Asia	25.5	25.5	26.6
SAARC	0.8	0.8	0.6
Other Asian
Developing Countries	24.7	24.7	26.0
of which :
People’s Rep of China	9.4	10.8	10.8
Africa	3.5	3.7	4.3
Latin America	2.8	2.3	2.0
V. Others / Unspecified	0.5	0.8	0.4
Total Imports	100.0	100.0	100.0
Source: Compiled from DGCI&S data.

Trade Deficit

The trade deficit during April-August 2009 stood at US$ 38.2 billion, which was lower by US$ 22.6 billion (37.1 per cent) than US$ 60.7 billion a year ago, due to relatively larger decline in imports than exports during the period (Statement 2 and Chart 1). Trade deficit on oil account during 2008-09 stood at US$ 64.5 billion, which was higher by US$ 13.2 billion than US$ 51.3 billion a year ago. Trade deficit on non-oil account during this period stood at US$ 44.4 billion, which was higher by US$ 7.1 billion than US$ 37.3 billion a year back.

Global Trade

World merchandise exports, which started declining since November 2008 as an outcome of global economic crisis, subsequently witnessed much larger rates of decline. However, according to the latest monthly data from International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) International Financial Statistics (IFS), in June 2009 the decline in world exports was the lowest (26.9 per cent) in 2009 so far (January-June 2009). The trend showed that world exports and exports of advanced economies and emerging and developing economies moved in tandem with each other in 2008 and their rates of decline have exhibited convergence during 2009 so far (Chart 2). Cumulatively, world merchandise exports during January-June 2009, in dollar terms, showed a decline of 29.5 per cent as against a growth of 25.9 per cent a year ago (Table 7). During the same period, exports of advanced economies declined by 31.1 per cent in contrast with a growth of 21.6 per cent a year back, while the exports of emerging and developing economies declined by 27.6 per cent as against a growth of 34.1 per cent during January-June 2008.

World Commodity Prices

The world commodity prices which started declining since October 2008 saw substantially higher rates of decline during subsequent months. However, according to the latest available data, the rate of decline in prices moderated in August 2009 (Chart 3). In fact, the decline in prices witnessed in August 2009 was the lowest in 2009 so far (January-August 2009). According to IMF’s IFS, world commodity prices declined by 33.4 per cent in August 2009. The prices of metals, energy and food showed decline of 21.5 per cent, 40.4 per cent and 16.1 per cent, respectively, in August 2009.

Table 7: Growth in Exports - Global Scenario
(Per cent)
Region/Country	2007	2008	2008	2009
Region/Country	January-December		January-June
1	2	3	4	5
World	14.1	16.2	25.9	-29.5
Advanced Economies	13.5	11.0	21.6	-31.1
US	12.0	11.9	18.0	-23.8
France	12.8	10.0	22.5	-32.0
Germany	18.0	10.6	23.6	-33.4
Japan	7.8	12.3	23.2	-37.9
Emerging and Developing
Economies	15.1	25.6	34.1	-27.6
Singapore	10.1	13.0	23.8	-31.7
China	25.6	17.3	21.8	-21.7
India	23.3	20.0	39.8*	-25.6 *
Indonesia	14.7	24.4	27.8	-28.3
Korea	14.1	13.6	20.4	-22.7
Malaysia	9.6	19.1	24.2	-31.2
Thailand	17.0	12.9	25.0	-23.4
* : Pertains to January-August over corresponding period of previous year. Sources: 1. IMF (www.imfstatistics.org) 2. DGCI&S for India.

Statement 1 : India's Foreign Trade - August 2009
Year	Exports			Imports			Trade Balance
Year	Total	Oil	Non-Oil	Total	Oil	Non-Oil	Total	Oil	Non-Oil
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
		Rupees crore
2007-08	51,600	8,039	43,561	83,136	25,318	57,818	-31,536	-17,279	-14,257
	(3.0)	(-3.6)	(4.3)	(16.6)	(-1.9)	(27.0)
2008-09 R	76,103	13,854	62,249	143,890	49,460	94,430	-67,787	-35,606	-32,181
	(47.5)	(72.3)	(42.9)	(73.1)	(95.4)	(63.3)
2009-10 P	69,066			109,533	30,359	79,174	-40,467
	(-9.2)			(-23.9)	(-38.6)	(-16.2)
		US dollar million
2007-08	12,641	1,969	10,671	20,366	6,202	14,164	-7,725	-4,233	-3,492
	(17.4)	(9.9)	(18.9)	(32.9)	(11.9)	(44.8)
2008-09 R	17,724	3,227	14,498	33,512	11,519	21,992	-15,787	-8,293	-7,495
	(40.2)	(63.8)	(35.9)	(64.5)	(85.7)	(55.3)
2009-10 P	14,289	..	..	22,661	6,281	16,380	-8,372
	(-19.4)			(-32.4)	(-45.5)	(-25.5)
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	Exports			Imports			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
2006-07	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)
2007-08 R	655,864	114,192	541,672	1,012,312	320,655	691,657	-356,448	-206,463	-149,985
	(14.7)	(35.1)	(11.2)	(20.4)	(24.0)	(18.9)
2008-09 P	839,978	123,398	716,580	1,340,588	419,878	920,709	-500,610	-296,480	-204,129
	(28.1)	(8.1)	(32.3)	(32.4)	(30.9)	(33.1)
	US dollar million
2006-07	126,414	18,635	107,780	185,735	56,945	128,790	-59,321	-38,311	-21,010
	(22.6)	(60.1)	(17.9)	(24.5)	(29.5)	(22.4)	(28.7)
2007-08 R	162,904	28,363	134,541	251,439	79,645	171,795	-88,535	-51,281	-37,254
	(28.9)	(52.2)	(24.8)	(35.4)	(39.9)	(33.4)	(49.2)
2008-09 P	182,631	26,830	155,801	291,475	91,291	200,183	-108,844	-64462	-44383
	(12.1)	(-5.4)	(15.8)	(15.9)	(14.6)	(16.5)	(22.9)
	April-August
	Rupees crore
2007-08	250,048	43,442	206,606	413,817	118,275	295,541	-163,768	-74,833	-88,935
	(7.8)	(13.1)	(6.7)	(23.9)	(5.6)	(33.2)
2008-09 R	391,841	67,604	324,237	648,041	227,028	421,013	-256,200	-159,423	-96,777
	(56.7)	(55.6)	(56.9)	(56.6)	(91.9)	(42.5)
2009-10 P	311,715	..	..	497,108	137,316	359,792	-185,393	..	..
	(-20.4)			(-23.3)	(-39.5)	(-14.5)
	US dollar million
2007-08	61,037	10,599	50,438	101,031	28,798	72,233	-39,993	-18,199	-21,795
	(20.8)	(27.0)	(19.6)	(38.9)	(20.4)	(47.9)
2008-09 R	92,959	15,981	76,978	153,691	53,742	99,949	-60,732	-37,761	-22,971
	(52.3)	(50.8)	(52.6)	(52.1)	(86.6)	(38.4)
2009-10 P	64,129	..	..	102,300	28,275	74,025	-38,171	..	..
	(-31.0)			(-33.4)	(-47.4)	(-25.9)
P - Provisional. R - Revised. .. Not available. Note : Figures in brackets relate to percentage variation over the corresponding period of the previous year. Source : DGCI&S.

Statement 3 : India’s Exports of Principal Commodities
(US$ million)
Commodity/Group			April-March			Percentage Variation
Commodity/Group			2006-07	2007-08	2008-09 P	(3)/(2)	(4)/(3)
1			2	3	4	5	6
I.	Primary Products		19685.9	27551.9	25333.4	40.0	-8.1
			15.6	16.9	13.9
	A.	Agricultural & Allied Products	12683.4	18432.1	17533.6	45.3	-4.9
		of which:	10.0	11.3	9.6
		1. Tea	435.3	505.3	584.4	16.1	15.7
		2. Coffee	435.1	465.0	490.5	6.9	5.5
		3. Rice	1554.9	2919.6	2428.2	87.8	-16.8
		4. Wheat	7.8	0.1	0.3	-99.2	432.9
		5. Cotton Raw incl. Waste	1349.8	2202.0	623.1	63.1	-71.7
		6. Tobacco	372.4	479.8	751.8	28.8	56.7
		7. Cashew incl. CNSL	553.9	555.1	637.2	0.2	14.8
		8. Spices	697.9	1071.7	1378.1	53.6	28.6
		9. Oil Meal	1216.4	2022.0	2232.8	66.2	10.4
		10. Marine Products	1768.2	1720.5	1535.9	-2.7	-10.7
		11. Sugar & Mollases	720.6	1406.5	985.2	95.2	-30.0
	B.	Ores & Minerals	7002.5	9119.8	7799.8	30.2	-14.5
		of which:	5.5	5.6	4.3
		1. Iron Ore	3902.0	5812.0	4723.6	49.0	-18.7
		2. Processed Minerals	1311.8	1247.7	1359.7	-4.9	9.0
II.	Manufactured Goods		84920.4	102978.7	122812.4	21.3	19.3
	of which:		67.2	63.2	67.2
	A.	Leather & Manufactures	3016.7	3502.5	3555.1	16.1	1.5
	B.	Chemicals & Related Products	17335.4	21193.8	22641.3	22.3	6.8
		1. Basic Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals & Cosmetics	10958.8	13952.4	15548.7	27.3	11.4
		2. Plastic & Linoleum	3252.6	3418.6	2987.9	5.1	-12.6
		3. Rubber, Glass, Paints & Enamels, etc.,	2372.8	2886.3	2991.8	21.6	3.7
		4. Residual Chemicals & Allied Products	751.2	936.5	1112.8	24.7	18.8
	C.	Engineering Goods	29567.1	37365.2	47264.2	26.4	26.5
		of which:
		1. Manufactures of metals	5081.2	7051.3	7550.8	38.8	7.1
		2. Machinery & Instruments	6722.8	9128.1	10953.0	35.8	20.0
		3. Transport equipments	4949.9	7024.7	11142.1	41.9	58.6
		4. Iron & steel	5238.6	5446.5	5822.5	4.0	6.9
		5. Electronic goods	2854.0	3361.1	6789.6	17.8	102.0
	D.	Textiles and Textile Products	17373.2	19425.7	20017.6	11.8	3.0
		1. Cotton Yarn, Fabrics, Made-ups, etc.	4218.7	4653.3	4118.5	10.3	-11.5
		2. Natural Silk Yarn, Fabrics Madeups, etc.
		(incl.silk waste)	441.9	385.8	362.9	-12.7	-5.9
		3. Manmade Yarn, Fabrics, Made-ups, etc.	2204.4	2896.9	3025.7	31.4	4.4
		4. Manmade Staple Fibre	196.4	278.6	254.8	41.9	-8.5
		5. Woolen Yarn, Fabrics, Madeups, etc.	85.2	92.8	99.3	8.9	7.0
		6. Readymade Garments	8892.3	9687.1	10934.4	8.9	12.9
		7. Jute & Jute Manufactures	260.4	327.7	299.1	25.8	-8.7
		8. Coir & Coir Manufactures	145.9	160.2	148.0	9.8	-7.6
		9. Carpets	928.0	943.3	774.9	1.7	-17.9
		(a) Carpet Handmade	898.7	925.4	762.1	3.0	-17.6
		(b) Carpet Millmade	0.0	0.0	0.0	-	-
		(c) Silk Carpets	29.3	17.9	12.8	-38.8	-28.7
	E.	Gems & Jewellery	15977.0	19678.7	27705.0	23.2	40.8
	F.	Handicrafts	438.0	508.2	299.1	16.0	-41.2
III	Petroleum Products		18634.6	28363.1	26829.6	52.2	-5.4
			14.7	17.4	14.7
IV.	Others		3173.2	4010.5	7655.1	26.4	90.9
			2.5	2.5	4.2
Total Exports			126414.1	162904.2	182630.5	28.9	12.1
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-March			Percentage	Variation
			2006-07	2007-08	2008-09 P	(3)/(2)	(4)/(3)
1			2	3	4	5	6
I.	O E C D Countries		53056.9	64272.0	68277.4	21.1	6.2
	A.	E U	26805.9	34490.2	38952.9	28.7	12.9
		of which:
		1. Belgium	3474.4	4208.3	4414.9	21.1	4.9
		2. France	2100.8	2596.6	2995.3	23.6	15.4
		3. Germany	3979.5	5116.4	6343.9	28.6	24.0
		4. Italy	3582.9	3911.5	3776.2	9.2	-3.5
		5. Netherland	2670.2	5225.6	6279.9	95.7	20.2
		6. U K	5618.0	6698.2	6594.6	19.2	-1.5
	B.	North America	19976.5	21977.3	22176.2	10.0	0.9
		1. Canada	1110.4	1265.3	1357.9	13.9	7.3
		2. U S A	18866.1	20712.0	20818.4	9.8	0.5
	C.	Asia and Oceania	4290.8	5162.3	4612.7	20.3	-10.6
		of which:
		1. Australia	924.8	1150.0	1426.0	24.4	24.0
		2. Japan	2862.7	3853.8	3000.8	34.6	-22.1
	D.	Other O E C D Countries	1983.6	2642.2	2535.5	33.2	-4.0
		of which:
		1. Switzerland	466.5	615.0	765.7	31.8	24.5
II.	O P E C		20953.1	26989.6	38806.3	28.8	43.8
	of which:
	1.	Indonesia	2028.1	2159.1	2517.3	6.5	16.6
	2.	Iran	1450.8	1948.5	2509.5	34.3	28.8
	3.	Iraq	203.5	271.1	430.8	33.2	58.9
	4.	Kuwait	614.3	681.8	788.4	11.0	15.6
	5.	Saudi Arabia	2588.2	3706.5	4987.9	43.2	34.6
	6.	U A E	12032.1	15626.9	23921.1	29.9	53.1
III.	Eastern Europe		1554.1	1836.7	2010.5	18.2	9.5
	of which:
	1.	Russia	902.9	939.7	1078.2	4.1	14.7
IV.	Developing Countries		50417.2	69171.0	68620.8	37.2	-0.8
	of which:
	A.	Asia	37611.5	51477.2	51388.1	36.9	-0.2
		a) S A A R C	6469.5	9617.2	8438.3	48.7	-12.3
		1. Afghanistan	181.7	248.9	395.3	36.9	58.8
		2. Bangladesh	1627.9	2916.8	2460.6	79.2	-15.6
		3. Bhutan	57.5	86.6	110.7	50.7	27.8
		4. Maldives	68.7	89.6	128.3	30.3	43.3
		5. Nepal	928.5	1506.1	1555.8	62.2	3.3
		6. Pakistan	1349.6	1944.2	1417.8	44.1	-27.1
		7 Sri Lanka	2255.6	2825.2	2369.7	25.3	-16.1
		b. Other Asian Developing Countries	31142.0	41859.9	42949.8	34.4	2.6
		of which:
		1. People’s Rep of China	8293.9	10828.8	9275.5	30.6	-14.3
		2. Hong Kong	4680.6	6305.2	6661.7	34.7	5.7
		3. South Korea	2514.7	2851.8	3990.5	13.4	39.9
		4. Malaysia	1304.3	2567.6	3430.8	96.9	33.6
		5. Singapore	6068.9	7367.5	8207.0	21.4	11.4
		6. Thailand	1444.3	1807.9	1978.2	25.2	9.4
	B.	Africa	8679.5	12230.6	11560.5	40.9	-5.5
		of which:
		1. Benin	151.5	275.3	203.7	81.7	-26.0
		2. Egypt Arab Republic	761.0	1396.2	1631.4	83.5	16.8
		3. Kenya	1315.5	1578.7	1335.1	20.0	-15.4
		4. South Africa	2246.5	2657.4	1966.2	18.3	-26.0
		5. Sudan	403.7	407.8	481.9	1.0	18.2
		6. Tanzania	288.8	587.3	1028.3	103.3	75.1
		7. Zambia	108.4	132.2	106.5	22.0	-19.4
	C.	Latin American Countries	4126.2	5463.2	5672.2	32.4	3.8
V.	Others		190.8	270.2	497.3	41.6	84.0
VI.	Unspecified		242.0	364.6	4418.4	50.6	1112.0
Total Exports			126414.1	162904.2	182630.5	28.9	12.1
P : Provisional. Source: DGCI & S.

Statement 5 : India's Imports of Principal Commodities
(US$ million)
Commodity/Group			April-March			Percentage	Variation
			2006-07	2007-08	2008-09 P	(3)/(2)	(4)/(3)
1			2	3	4	5	6
I.	Bulk Imports		84,235.8	1,12,744.7	1,35,681.7	33.8	20.3
			45.4	44.8	46.6
	A.	Petroleum, Petroleum Products	56,945.3	79,644.5	91,291.2	39.9	14.6
		& Related Material	30.7	31.7	31.3
	B.	Bulk Consumption Goods	4,294.1	4,600.3	4,887.2	7.1	6.2
		1. Wheat	1,292.9	660.1	0.0	-48.9	-
		2. Cereals & Cereal Preparations	32.1	45.1	46.9	40.7	3.9
		3. Edible Oil	2,108.3	2,558.6	3,438.5	21.4	34.4
		4. Pulses	860.1	1,335.0	1,275.1	55.2	-4.5
		5. Sugar	0.8	1.5	126.8	89.4	-
	C.	Other Bulk Items	22,996.4	28,499.9	39,503.3	23.9	38.6
		1. Fertilisers	3,144.1	5,406.0	13,577.4	71.9	151.2
		a) Crude	361.1	467.3	1,060.4	29.4	126.9
		b) Sulphur & Unroasted Iron Pyrites	109.3	362.0	625.0	231.1	72.7
		c) Manufactured	2,673.6	4,576.6	11,891.9	71.2	159.8
		2. Non-Ferrous Metals	2,604.9	3,505.2	5,240.8	34.6	49.5
		3. Paper, Paperboard & Mgfd. incl. Newsprint	1,206.8	1,424.8	1,765.9	18.1	23.9
		4. Crude Rubber, incl. Synthetic & Reclaimed	630.8	785.7	859.6	24.6	9.4
		5. Pulp & Waste Paper	639.3	778.0	799.1	21.7	2.7
		6. Metalliferrous Ores & Metal Scrap	8,345.8	7,911.7	7,896.9	-5.2	-0.2
		7. Iron & Steel	6,424.7	8,688.6	9,363.7	35.2	7.8
II.	Non-Bulk Imports		1,01,499.4	1,38,694.5	1,55,792.8	36.6	12.3
			54.6	55.2	53.4
	A.	Capital Goods	47,069.1	70,110.4	70,542.6	49.0	0.6
		1. Manufactures of Metals	1,603.6	2,662.7	3,197.8	66.0	20.1
		2. Machine Tools	1,481.3	2,208.0	2,235.3	49.1	1.2
		3. Machinery except Electrical & Electronics	13,850.4	19,860.4	20,914.5	43.4	5.3
		4. Electrical Machinery except Electronics	1,959.8	2,870.5	3,623.1	46.5	26.2
		5. Electronic Goods incl. Computer Software	16,939.5	21,103.6	24,421.7	24.6	15.7
		6. Transport Equipments	9,438.6	20,111.6	13,022.9	113.1	-35.2
		7. Project Goods	1,795.9	1,293.5	3,127.4	-28.0	141.8
	B.	Mainly Export Related Items	17,871.7	20,768.3	29,716.9	16.2	43.1
		1. Pearls, Precious & Semi-Precious Stones	7,487.5	7,971.6	14,439.1	6.5	81.1
		2. Chemicals, Organic & Inorganic	7,830.6	9,896.6	12,157.7	26.4	22.8
		3. Textile Yarn, Fabric, etc.	2,151.2	2,474.1	2,539.3	15.0	2.6
		4. Cashew Nuts, raw	402.4	425.9	580.8	5.8	36.4
	C.	Others	36,558.5	47,815.8	55,533.4	30.8	16.1
		of which :
		1. Gold & Silver	14,646.0	17,866.9	18,682.6	22.0	4.6
		2. Artificial Resins & Plastic Materials	2,584.8	3,685.1	3,846.4	42.6	4.4
		3. Professional Instruments etc. except electrical	2,341.0	3,899.6	4,373.2	66.6	12.1
		4. Coal, Coke & Briquittes etc.	4,576.8	6,423.7	9,991.9	40.4	55.5
		5. Medicinal & Pharmaceutical Products	1,296.4	1,671.7	1,880.1	28.9	12.5
		6. Chemical Materials & Products	1,321.6	1,625.3	2,079.9	23.0	28.0
		7. Non-Metallic Mineral Manufactures	780.0	1,046.6	1,156.2	34.2	10.5
Total Imports			1,85,735.2	2,51,439.2	2,91,474.6	35.4	15.9
Memo Items:
Non-Oil Imports			1,28,789.9	1,71,794.6	2,00,183.4	33.4	16.5
Non-Oil Imports excl. Gold & Silver			1,14,143.9	1,53,927.7	1,81,500.7	34.9	17.9
Mainly Industrial Inputs*			1,04,835.1	1,40,851.2	1,60,348.3	34.4	13.8
P : Provisional. * : Non oil imports net of gold and silver, bulk consumption goods, manufactured fertilisers 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-March			Percentage Variation
			2006-07	2007-08	2008-09 P	(3)/(2)	(4)/(3)
1			2	3	4	5	6
I.	O E C D Countries		65,439.3	89,048.7	92,749.8	36.1	4.2
	A.	E U	29,832.3	38,413.7	41,652.7	28.8	8.4
		of which:
		1. Belgium	4,141.8	4,358.0	5,441.4	5.2	24.9
		2. France	4,212.0	6,253.2	4,588.1	48.5	-26.6
		3. Germany	7,546.3	9,869.7	11,694.3	30.8	18.5
		4. Italy	2,674.4	3,898.2	4,308.9	45.8	10.5
		5. Netherland	1,156.4	1,919.6	1,875.7	66.0	-2.3
		6. U K	4174.5	4,953.1	5,792.2	18.7	16.9
	B.	North America	13,513.5	22,991.5	20,614.3	70.1	-10.3
		1. Canada	1,777.4	1,972.2	2,451.4	11.0	24.3
		2. U S A	11,736.1	21,019.3	18,162.9	79.1	-13.6
	C.	Asia and Oceania	11,869.4	14,496.3	16,453.6	22.1	13.5
		of which:
		1. Australia	7,008.0	7,836.9	8,423.1	11.8	7.5
		2. Japan	4,595.6	6,323.2	7,606.6	37.6	20.3
	D.	Other O E C D Countries	10,224.1	13,147.3	14,029.3	28.6	6.7
		of which:
		1. Switzerland	9,123.4	9,828.6	11,447.2	7.7	16.5
II.	O P E C		56,374.8	77,309.9	95,026.7	37.1	22.9
	of which:
	1.	Indonesia	4,169.1	4,823.7	6,674.3	15.7	38.4
	2.	Iran	7,627.8	10,915.3	12,133.7	43.1	11.2
	3.	Iraq	5,526.0	6,829.2	7,454.3	23.6	9.2
	4.	Kuwait	5,992.1	7,689.9	9,392.6	28.3	22.1
	5.	Saudi Arabia	13,383.9	19,401.1	19,493.0	45.0	0.5
	6.	U A E	8,657.5	13,470.5	20,604.7	55.6	53.0
III.	Eastern Europe		3,922.6	3,813.5	6,588.9	-2.8	72.8
	of which:
	1	Russia	2,409.5	2,468.5	4,290.8	2.4	73.8
IV.	De	veloping Countries	59,189.4	79,260.7	95,774.3	33.9	20.8
	of which:
	A.	Asia	47,363.9	64,141.6	77,581.3	35.4	21.0
		a) S A A R C	1,507.3	2111.4	1,791.4	40.1	-15.2
		1. Afghanistan	34.5	109.2	128.8	216.6	17.9
		2. Bangladesh	228.5	257.0	308.4	12.5	20.0
		3. Bhutan	141.4	194.4	149.6	37.4	-23.1
		4. Maldives	3.1	4.1	3.9	35.7	-6.0
		5. Nepal	306.0	627.7	488.4	105.2	-22.2
		6. Pakistan	323.3	287.8	362.4	-11.0	25.9
		7 Sri Lanka	470.6	631.1	349.9	34.1	-44.6
		b) Other Asian Developing Countries	45,856.5	62,030.2	75,790.0	35.3	22.2
		of which:
		1. People’s Rep of China	17,460.6	27,102.4	31,333.9	55.2	15.6
		2. Hong Kong	2,483.8	2,699.2	6,410.5	8.7	137.5
		3. South Korea	4,806.0	6,037.6	8,591.3	25.6	42.3
		4. Malaysia	5,294.8	6,004.9	7,020.8	13.4	16.9
		5. Singapore	5,489.5	8,117.6	7,431.5	47.9	-8.5
		6. Thailand	1,745.6	2,301.0	2,656.0	31.8	15.4
	B.	Africa	6,557.9	9,338.4	12,500.9	42.4	33.9
		of which:
		1. Benin	80.8	72.0	106.8	-10.9	48.3
		2. Egypt Arab Republic	1,743.0	1,982.8	2,123.1	13.8	7.1
		3. Kenya	56.5	86.5	81.4	53.2	-5.9
		4. South Africa	2,471.7	3,613.1	5,440.4	46.2	50.6
		5. Sudan	89.3	431.5	400.0	383.0	-7.3
		6. Tanzania	98.1	164.5	199.4	67.7	21.2
		7. Zambia	86.2	74.8	215.5	-13.3	188.1
	C.	Latin American Countries	5,267.7	5,780.7	5,692.1	9.7	-1.5
V.	Others		129.1	229.8	64.4	78.0	-72.0
VI.	Unspecified		680.0	1,776.5	1,270.4	161.3	-28.5
Total Imports			1,85,735.2	2,51,439.2	2,91,474.6	35.4	15.9
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. The previous issue of the article was published in RBI Bulletin, October 2009.