India’s Foreign Trade: December 2018

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

Posted On: 15 JAN 2019 5:51PM by PIB Delhi

India’s overall exports (Merchandise and Services combined) in April-December 2018-19* are estimated to be USD 396.73Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 13.79per cent over the same period last year. Overall imports in April-December2018-19* are estimated to be USD 479.46Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 14.63per cent over the same period last year.

 

 

*Note: Services data pertains to April-November 2018-19 as November 2018 is the latest data available as per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th January 2019. It is arrived at by adding Month-wise QE dataof RBI’s press release for April to November 2018-19. This data is provisional and subject to revision by RBI. In addition, it may be noted that data for December 2018 is estimated and added to the April-November 2018-19 data of RBI to calculate the Overall Trade Deficit for April-December 2018-19. It will be revised based on RBI’s next press release for December 2018.

I. MERCHANDISE TRADE

EXPORTS (including re-exports)

Exports inDecember 2018 were US $ 27.93 Billion, as compared to US $ 27.83 Billion in December 2017, exhibiting a positive growth of 0.34per cent. In Rupee terms, exports were ₹ 1,97,535.86 Crore in December 2018, as compared to ₹ 1,78,802.77 Crore in December 2017, registering a positive growth of 10.48 per cent.    

In December 2018, major commodity groups of export showing positive growth over the corresponding month of last year are

           

Cumulative value of exports for the period April-December 2018-19 was US $ 245.44 Billion (Rs.17,11,905.60 Crore) as against US $ 222.77 Billion (Rs.14,36,614.25 Crore) during the period April-December 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 10.18 per cent in Dollar terms (19.16 per cent in Rupee terms).

Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports in December 2018 were US $ 21.11 Billion, as compared to US $ 20.88 Billion in December 2017, exhibiting a positive growth of 1.08 per cent. Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports in April-December 2018-19 were US $ 177.66 Billion, as compared to US $ 164.66 Billion for the corresponding period in 2017-18, an increase of 7.90 per cent.

IMPORTS

Imports in December 2018 were US $ 41.01 Billion (Rs. 2,90,032.95 Crore), which was 2.44 per cent lower in Dollar terms and 7.41 per cent higher in Rupee terms over imports of US $ 42.03 Billion (Rs.2,70,015.44Crore) in December 2017. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-December 2018-19 was US $ 386.65 Billion (Rs.26,97,306.82 Crore), as against US $ 343.34 Billion (Rs.22,14,370.92 Crore) during the period April-December 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 12.61 per cent in Dollar terms (21.81 per cent in Rupee terms).

Major commodity groups of import showing high growth in December 2018 over the corresponding month of last year are:

CRUDE OIL AND NON-OIL IMPORTS:

Oil imports inDecember 2018 were US $ 10.67 Billion (Rs. 75,486.52 Crore), which was 3.16 percent higher in Dollar terms (13.58 percent higher in Rupee terms), compared to US $ 10.35 Billion (Rs. 66,458.79 Crore) in December 2017. Oil imports in April-December 2018-19 were US $ 108.10 Billion (Rs. 7,55,255.78 Crore) which was 42.85 per cent higher in Dollar terms (54.73 percent higher in Rupee terms) compared to US $ 75.67 Billion (Rs. 4,88,125.91 Crore), over the same period last year.

In this connection it is mentioned that the global Brent price ($/bbl) has decreased by 12.07 % in December 2018 vis-à-vis December 2017 as per data available from World Bank (Pink Sheet).

Non-oil imports inDecember 2018 were estimated at US $ 30.33 Billion (Rs.2,14,546.43 Crore) which was 4.27 per cent lower in Dollar terms (5.40percent higher in Rupee terms), compared to US $ 31.69Billion (Rs. 2,03,556.65 Crore) in December 2017. Non-oil imports in April-December 2018-19 were US $ 278.54 Billion (Rs.19,42,051.04 Crore) which was 4.06per cent higher in Dollar terms (12.50percent higher in Rupee terms), compared to US $ 267.66 Billion (Rs. 17,26,245.01 Crore) in April-December2017-18.

Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports were US $ 27.76 billion in December 2018, recording a negative growth of 1.86per cent, as compared to Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports in December 2017. Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports were US $ 253.89 billion in April-December 2018-19, recording a positive growth of 5.32per cent, as compared to Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports in April-December 2017-18.

II. TRADE IN SERVICES (for November, 2018, as per the RBI Press Release dated 15th January 2019)

EXPORTS (Receipts)

Exports inNovember2018 were US $ 16.68Billion (Rs.1,19,831.25 Crore) registering a negative growth of 0.82per cent in dollar terms, vis-à-vis October 2018. (as per RBI’s Press Release for the respective months).

IMPORTS (Payments)

Imports inNovember2018 were US $ 10.11Billion (Rs.72,637.41Crore) registering a positive growth of 0.10per cent in dollar terms,vis-à-vis October 2018.  (as per RBI’s Press Release for the respective months).

III.TRADE BALANCE

MERCHANDISE: The trade deficit for December 2018 was estimated at US $ 13.08Billion as against the deficit of US $ 14.20Billion inDecember 2017.

SERVICES: As per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th January 2019, the trade balance in Services (i.e. Net Services export) for November, 2018 is estimated at US $ 6.57Billion.

OVERALL TRADE BALANCE: Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April-December 2018-19* is estimated at US $ 82.72Billion as compared to US $ 69.63Billion in April-December 2017-18.

*Note: Services data pertains to April-November 2018-19 as November 2018 is the latest data available as per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th January 2019. It is arrived at by adding Month-wise QE dataof RBI’s press release for April to November 2018-19. This data is provisional and subject to revision by RBI. In addition, it may be noted that data for December 2018 is estimated and added to the April-November 2018-19 data of RBI to calculate the Overall Trade Deficit for April-December 2018-19. It will be revised based on RBI’s next press release for December 2018.

… 

MERCHANDISE TRADE 

EXPORTS & IMPORTS: (US $ Billion)
(PROVISIONAL)
	DECEMBER	APRIL-DECEMBER
EXPORTS (including re-exports)
2017-18	27.83	222.77
2018-19	27.93	245.44
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18	0.34	10.18
IMPORTS
2017-18	42.03	343.34
2018-19	41.01	386.65
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18	-2.44	12.61
TRADE BALANCE
2017-18	-14.20	-120.57
2018-19	-13.08	-141.20
EXPORTS & IMPORTS: (Rs. Crore)
(PROVISIONAL)
	DECEMBER	APRIL- DECEMBER
EXPORTS(including re-exports)
2017-18	178802.77	1436614.25
2018-19	197535.86	1711905.60
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18	10.48	19.16
IMPORTS
2017-18	270015.44	2214370.92
2018-19	290032.95	2697306.82
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18	7.41	21.81
TRADE BALANCE
2017-18	-91212.68	-777756.67
2018-19	-92497.09	-985401.22

SERVICES TRADE 

EXPORTS & IMPORTS (SERVICES) : (US $ Billion)
(Provisional)	NOVEMBER 2018	APRIL-NOVEMBER 2018-19
EXPORTS (Receipts)	16.68	134.56
IMPORTS (Payments)	10.11	82.78
TRADE BALANCE	6.57	51.78
EXPORTS & IMPORTS (SERVICES): (Rs. Crore)
(Provisional)	NOVEMBER 2018	APRIL-NOVEMBER 2018-19
EXPORTS (Receipts)	1,19,831.25	9,36,338.94
IMPORTS (Payments)	72,637.41	5,75,771.15
TRADE BALANCE	47,193.84	3,60,567.79

Note: Services data pertains to April-November 2018-19 as November 2018 is the latest data available as per RBI’s Press Release dated 15^thJanuary 2019. April-November 2018-19 data is arrived at by adding Month-wise QE data. This has been used along with the estimate of service exports and imports for December 2018, as explained in page-1 for the purpose of this Press note.

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR DECEMBER 2018

 TRADE: EXPORT

Sl. No.	Commodities	(Values in Rs. crores)		% change
		DEC'17	DEC'18	DEC'18
1	Tea	584.82	572.82	-2.05
2	Coffee	486.79	346.55	-28.81
3	Rice	4089.11	4562.55	11.58
4	Other cereals	106.37	170.75	60.53
5	Tobacco	543.08	630.83	16.16
6	Spices	1780.06	1874.50	5.31
7	Cashew	535.06	506.48	-5.34
8	Oil Meals	914.87	1367.62	49.49
9	Oil seeds	918.11	737.86	-19.63
10	Fruits & Vegetables	1342.91	1285.90	-4.25
11	Cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items	850.43	904.81	6.39
12	Marine Products	4214.13	4294.81	1.91
13	Meat, dairy & poultry products	3251.48	2698.63	-17.00
14	Iron Ore	926.95	862.12	-6.99
15	Mica, Coal & Other Ores, Minerals including processed minerals	2097.52	2479.73	18.22
16	Leather & leather products	3032.97	3092.13	1.95
17	Ceramic products & glassware	1229.89	1940.30	57.76
18	Gems &Jewellery	20761.83	18467.15	-11.05
19	Drugs & Pharmaceuticals	10735.12	11739.70	9.36
20	Organic & Inorganic Chemicals	12229.06	14205.07	16.16
21	Engineering Goods	47493.47	50658.38	6.66
22	Electronic Goods	3555.42	5903.51	66.04
23	Cotton Yarn/Fabs./made-ups, Handloom Products etc.	6055.88	6301.07	4.05
24	Man-made Yarn/Fabs./made-ups etc.	2682.88	2915.40	8.67
25	RMG of all Textiles	8590.47	9720.59	13.16
26	Jute Mfg. including Floor Covering	200.83	217.57	8.33
27	Carpet	807.08	944.11	16.98
28	Handicrafts excl. handmade carpet	946.49	1071.00	13.15
29	Petroleum Products	23883.91	29762.08	24.61
30	Plastic & Linoleum	4035.19	5339.28	32.32
	Sub Total	168882.19	185573.30	9.88
	GRAND   TOTAL	178802.77	197535.86	10.48

Note 1: Grand total is inclusive of component ‘Other’.

Note 2: The figures for DECEMBER'18 and DECEMBER'17 are provisional and subject to change

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR DECEMBER 2018

TRADE: EXPORT

Sl. No.	Commodities	(Values in Million USD)		% change
		DEC'17	DEC'18	DEC'18
1	Tea	91.03	80.99	-11.03
2	Coffee	75.77	49.00	-35.33
3	Rice	636.51	645.06	1.34
4	Other cereals	16.56	24.14	45.77
5	Tobacco	84.54	89.19	5.50
6	Spices	277.09	265.02	-4.36
7	Cashew	83.29	71.61	-14.02
8	Oil Meals	142.41	193.35	35.77
9	Oil seeds	142.91	104.32	-27.00
10	Fruits & Vegetables	209.04	181.80	-13.03
11	Cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items	132.38	127.92	-3.37
12	Marine Products	655.97	607.20	-7.43
13	Meat, dairy & poultry products	506.13	381.53	-24.62
14	Iron Ore	144.29	121.89	-15.52
15	Mica, Coal & Other Ores, Minerals including processed minerals	326.50	350.59	7.38
16	Leather & leather products	472.11	437.17	-7.40
17	Ceramic products & glassware	191.44	274.32	43.29
18	Gems &Jewellery	3231.80	2610.90	-19.21
19	Drugs & Pharmaceuticals	1671.04	1659.76	-0.68
20	Organic & Inorganic Chemicals	1903.58	2008.32	5.50
21	Engineering Goods	7392.87	7162.11	-3.12
22	Electronic Goods	553.44	834.64	50.81
23	Cotton Yarn/Fabs./made-ups, Handloom Products etc.	942.66	890.85	-5.50
24	Man-made Yarn/Fabs./made-ups etc.	417.62	412.18	-1.30
25	RMG of all Textiles	1337.20	1374.30	2.77
26	Jute Mfg. including Floor Covering	31.26	30.76	-1.60
27	Carpet	125.63	133.48	6.25
28	Handicrafts excl. hand made carpet	147.33	151.42	2.78
29	Petroleum Products	3717.79	4207.78	13.18
30	Plastic & Linoleum	628.12	754.87	20.18
	Sub Total	26288.31	26236.47	-0.20
	GRAND   TOTAL	27832.56	27927.72	0.34

Note 1: Exports include Re-Exports.

Note 2: The figures for DECEMBER'18 and DECEMBER'17 are provisional and subject to change

Note 3: Grand total is inclusive of component ‘Other’.

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR DECEMBER 2018

TRADE: IMPORT

Sl. No.	Commodities	(Values in Rs. crores)		% change
		DEC'17	DEC'18	DEC'18
1	Cotton Raw & Waste	158.51	181.16	14.29
2	Vegetable Oil	5432.96	5103.64	-6.06
3	Pulses	1357.44	976.37	-28.07
4	Fruits & vegetables	1329.03	1309.25	-1.49
5	Pulp and Waste paper	616.16	744.19	20.78
6	Textile yarn Fabric, made-up articles	1061.83	1094.10	3.04
7	Fertilisers, Crude & manufactured	2642.42	5234.35	98.09
8	Sulphur & Unroasted Iron Pyrites	143.43	123.39	-13.97
9	Metalliferous ores & other minerals	4992.61	5069.53	1.54
10	Coal, Coke & Briquettes, etc.	13046.12	15999.90	22.64
11	Petroleum, Crude & products	66458.79	75486.52	13.58
12	Wood &  Wood products	3164.15	3517.68	11.17
13	Leather & leather products	548.25	597.03	8.90
14	Organic & Inorganic Chemicals	11218.48	12688.04	13.10
15	Dyeing/tanning/colouringmtrls.	1604.94	1725.01	7.48
16	Artificial resins, plastic materials, etc.	7363.96	8546.31	16.06
17	Chemical material & products	4057.29	4665.07	14.98
18	Newsprint	357.80	620.22	73.34
19	Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones	22564.50	17868.44	-20.81
20	Iron & Steel	7935.85	10101.62	27.29
21	Non-ferrous metals	7097.44	8806.02	24.07
22	Machine tools	2081.96	2878.08	38.24
23	Machinery, electrical & non-electrical	18264.22	21793.83	19.33
24	Transport equipment	14271.50	13405.75	-6.07
25	Project goods	1222.74	2041.82	66.99
26	Professional instrument, Optical goods, etc.	2765.41	3385.60	22.43
27	Electronic goods	30022.72	30062.49	0.13
28	Medicinal. & Pharmaceutical products	3496.63	3797.87	8.62
29	Gold	21805.66	18165.99	-16.69
30	Silver	1267.33	2078.42	64.00
	Sub Total	258350.13	278067.69	7.63
	GRAND   TOTAL	270015.44	290032.95	7.41

Note 1: Grand total is inclusive of component ‘Other’.

Note 2: The figures for DECEMBER'18 and DECEMBER'17 are provisional and subject to change

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR DECEMBER 2018

TRADE: IMPORT

Sl. No.	Commodities	(Values in Million USD)		% change
		DEC'17	DEC'18	DEC'18
1	Cotton Raw & Waste	24.67	25.61	3.81
2	Vegetable Oil	845.70	721.56	-14.68
3	Pulses	211.30	138.04	-34.67
4	Fruits & vegetables	206.88	185.10	-10.53
5	Pulp and Waste paper	95.91	105.21	9.70
6	Textile yarn Fabric, made-up articles	165.28	154.68	-6.41
7	Fertilisers, Crude & manufactured	411.32	740.04	79.92
8	Sulphur & Unroasted Iron Pyrites	22.33	17.44	-21.90
9	Metalliferous ores & other minerals	777.15	716.73	-7.77
10	Coal, Coke & Briquettes, etc.	2030.77	2262.07	11.39
11	Petroleum, Crude & products	10345.02	10672.32	3.16
12	Wood &  Wood products	492.53	497.33	0.97
13	Leather & leather products	85.34	84.41	-1.09
14	Organic & Inorganic Chemicals	1746.28	1793.84	2.72
15	Dyeing/tanning/colouringmtrls.	249.83	243.88	-2.38
16	Artificial resins, plastic materials, etc.	1146.28	1208.28	5.41
17	Chemical material & products	631.56	659.55	4.43
18	Newsprint	55.69	87.69	57.46
19	Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones	3512.41	2526.25	-28.08
20	Iron & Steel	1235.30	1428.17	15.61
21	Non-ferrous metals	1104.79	1245.00	12.69
22	Machine tools	324.08	406.90	25.56
23	Machinery, electrical & non-electrical	2843.02	3081.22	8.38
24	Transport equipment	2221.51	1895.31	-14.68
25	Project goods	190.33	288.67	51.67
26	Professional instrument, Optical goods, etc.	430.47	478.66	11.19
27	Electronic goods	4673.36	4250.25	-9.05
28	Medicinal. & Pharmaceutical products	544.29	536.94	-1.35
29	Gold	3394.28	2568.32	-24.33
30	Silver	197.27	293.85	48.96
	Sub Total	40214.95	39313.32	-2.24
	GRAND   TOTAL	42030.79	41005.01	-2.44

Note 1: Imports include Re-Imports.

Note 2: The figures for DECEMBER'18 and DECEMBER'17 are provisional and subject to change.

Note 3: Grand total is inclusive of component ‘Other’.

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MM/SB