Exports Fell 0.8% To $26.89 Billion Last Month, Trade Deficit Widened To $15.71 Billion

Contracting for the third straight month, India’s exports slipped marginally by 0.8 per cent to $ 26.89 billion in December 2020, attributable to decline in sectors like petroleum, leather-based, and marine merchandise, as per the federal government information. The commerce deficit in December widened to $15.71 billion, as imports grew by 7.6 per cent to $ 42.6 billion, based on the preliminary information launched by the commerce ministry on Saturday. Exports in December 2019 had been $ 27.11 billion, whereas imports stood at $ 39.5 billion. In November 2020, exports had been down by 8.74 per cent. In April-December 2020-21, the nation’s merchandise exports contracted by 15.8 per cent to $ 200.55 billion, as in comparison with $ 238.27 billion in the identical interval final fiscal.

Imports through the 9 months of the present fiscal declined by 29.08 per cent to $ 258.29 billion, as in opposition to $ 364.18 billion in April-December 2019-20. “India is thus a internet importer in December 2020, with a commerce deficit of $ 15.71 billion, as in comparison with a commerce deficit of $12.49 billion, widened by 25.78 per cent,” the ministry mentioned in a press release. In December 2020, oil imports declined by 10.37 per cent to $ 9.61 billion. Throughout April-December this fiscal, the imports dipped by 44.46 per cent to $ 53.71 billion, it added.

Main commodities of export which have recorded constructive development through the month underneath overview embody Oil meals (192.60 per cent), Iron ore (69.26 per cent), Carpet (21.12 per cent), prescription drugs (17.44 per cent), spices (17.06 per cent), digital items (16.44 per cent), vegetables and fruit (12.82 per cent), and chemical compounds (10.73 per cent).

The opposite commodities within the constructive terrain embody cotton yarn/materials/made-ups, handloom merchandise (10.09 per cent), rice (8.60 per cent), meat, dairy and poultry merchandise (6.79 per cent), gems and jewelry (6.75 per cent), tea (4.47 per cent), and engineering items (0.12 per cent).

Sectors that registered unfavorable development embody petroleum merchandise (-40.47 per cent), oil Seeds (-31.80 per cent), leather-based and leather-based manufactures (-17.74 per cent), espresso (-16.39 per cent), ready-made clothes of all textiles (-15.07 per cent), man-made yarn/materials/made-ups (-14.61 per cent), marine merchandise (-14.27 per cent), cashew (-12.04 per cent), plastic and linoleum (-7.43 per cent), and tobacco (-4.95 per cent).

The most important commodities of imports with constructive development in December 2020 embody pulses (245.15 per cent), gold (81.82 per cent), vegetable oil (43.50 per cent), chemical compounds (23.30 per cent), digital items (20.90 per cent), machine instruments (13.46 per cent), pearls, treasured and semi-precious stones (7.81 per cent), and fertilisers (1.42 per cent). Sectors which recorded unfavorable development in December 2020 are silver, newsprint, transport gear, cotton uncooked and waste, coal, coke and briquettes.