India’s Foreign Trade: March 2019

India’s overall exports (Merchandise and Services combined) in April-March 2018-19* are estimated to be USD 535.45Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 7.97per cent over the same period last year. Overall imports in April-March2018-19* are estimated to be USD 631.29Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 8.48per cent over the same period last year.

 

*Note: Services data pertains to April-February 2018-19 as February 2019 is the latest data available as per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th April 2019. It is arrived at by adding quarterly data of RBI for Q1, Q2 & Q3 of 2018-19 with Month-wise QE dataof RBI’s press release forJanuary &February 2018-19. This data is provisional and subject to revision by RBI. In addition, it may be noted that data for March 2019 is estimated and added to the April-February 2018-19 data of RBI to calculate the Overall Trade Deficit for April-March 2018-19. It will be revised based on RBI’s next press release for March 2019.

 

I. MERCHANDISE TRADE

EXPORTS (including re-exports)

Exports inMarch 2019 were USD32.55Billion, as compared to USD29.32 Billion in March 2018, exhibiting a positive growth of 11.02per cent. In Rupee terms, exports were ₹ 2,26,138.76Crore in March 2019, as compared to ₹ 190,619.25Crore in March 2018, registering a positive growth of 18.63per cent.          

In March 2019, major commodity groups of export showing positive growth over the corresponding month of last year are

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cumulative value of exports for the period April-March 2018-19 was USD331.02Billion (Rs.23,14,429.08Crore) as against USD303.53Billion (Rs.19,56,514.53Crore) during the period April-March 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 9.06per cent in Dollar terms (18.29per cent in Rupee terms).

Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports in March 2019 were USD25.59Billion, as compared to USD22.57Billion in March 2018, exhibiting a positive growth of 13.41per cent. Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports in April-March 2018-19 were USD243.02Billion, as compared to USD224.52Billion for the corresponding period in 2017-18, an increase of 8.24per cent.

IMPORTS

Imports in March 2019 were USD43.44Billion (Rs. 3,01,814.05Crore), which was 1.44per cent higher in Dollar terms and 8.39per cent higher in Rupee terms over imports of USD42.82Billion (Rs.2,78,441.24Crore) in March 2018. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-March 2018-19 was USD507.44Billion (Rs.35,48,004.48Crore), as against USD465.58Billion (Rs.30,01,033.43Crore) during the period April-March 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 8.99per cent in Dollar terms (18.23per cent in Rupee terms).

Major commodity groups of import showing negative growth in March 2019 over the corresponding month of last year are:

CRUDE OIL AND NON-OIL IMPORTS:

Oil imports inMarch 2019 were USD11.75Billion (Rs. 81,609.46Crore), which was 5.55percent higher in Dollar terms (12.78percent higher in Rupee terms), compared to USD11.13Billion (Rs. 72,359.44Crore) in March 2018. Oil imports in April-March 2018-19 were USD140.47Billion (Rs. 9,83,147.76Crore) which was 29.27per cent higher in Dollar terms (40.39percent higher in Rupee terms) compared to USD108.66Billion (Rs. 7,00,320.81Crore), over the same period last year.

In this connection it is mentioned that the global Brent price ($/bbl) has decreased by 0.06% in March 2019 vis-à-vis March 2018 as per data available from World Bank (Pink Sheet).

Non-oil imports inMarch 2019 were estimated at USD31.69Billion (Rs.2,20,204.59Crore) which was at-par in Dollar terms (6.85percent higher in Rupee terms), compared to USD31.69Billion (Rs. 2,06,081.80Crore) in March 2018. Non-oil imports in April-March 2018-19 were USD366.97Billion (Rs.25,64,856.72Crore) which was 2.82per cent higher in Dollar terms (11.48percent higher in Rupee terms), compared to USD356.92Billion (Rs. 23,00,712.62Crore) in April-March2017-18.

Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports wereUSD28.42billion in March 2019, recording a negative growth of 2.67per cent, as compared to Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports in March 2018. Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports wereUSD334.15billion in April-March 2018-19, recording a positive growth of 3.37per cent, as compared to Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports in April-March 2017-18.

II. TRADE IN SERVICES (for February, 2019, as per the RBI Press Release dated 15th April 2019)

EXPORTS (Receipts)

Exports inFebruary2019 were USD16.58Billion (Rs.1,18,114.23Crore) registering a negative growth of 6.54per cent in dollar terms, vis-à-vis January 2019. (as per RBI’s Press Release for the respective months).

IMPORTS (Payments)

Imports inFebruary2019 were USD9.81Billion (Rs.69,861.46Crore) registering a negative growth of 11.05per cent in dollar terms,vis-à-vis January 2019.  (as per RBI’s Press Release for the respective months).

III.TRADE BALANCE

MERCHANDISE: The trade deficit for March 2019 was estimated at USD10.89Billion as against the deficit of USD13.51Billion inMarch 2018.

SERVICES: As per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th April 2019, the trade balance in Services (i.e. Net Services export) for February, 2019 is estimated at USD6.78Billion.

OVERALL TRADE BALANCE: Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April-March 2018-19* is estimated at USD95.85Billion as compared to USD 86.05 Billion in April-March 2017-18.

*Note: Services data pertains to April-February 2018-19 as February 2019 is the latest data available as per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th April 2019. It is arrived at by adding quarterly data of RBI for Q1, Q2 & Q3 of 2018-19 with Month-wise QE dataof RBI’s press release for January & February 2018-19. This data is provisional and subject to revision by RBI. In addition, it may be noted that data for March 2019 is estimated and added to the April-February 2018-19 data of RBI to calculate the Overall Trade Deficit for April-March 2018-19. It will be revised based on RBI’s next press release for March 2019.

 

MERCHANDISE TRADE

EXPORTS & IMPORTS: (USD Billion)
(PROVISIONAL)
	MARCH	APRIL-MARCH
EXPORTS (including re-exports)
2017-18	29.32	303.53
2018-19	32.55	331.02
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18	11.02	9.06
IMPORTS
2017-18	42.82	465.58
2018-19	43.44	507.44
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18	1.44	8.99
TRADE BALANCE
2017-18	-13.51	-162.05
2018-19	-10.89	-176.42
EXPORTS & IMPORTS: (Rs. Crore)
(PROVISIONAL)
	MARCH	APRIL-MARCH
EXPORTS(including re-exports)
2017-18	1,90,619.25	19,56,514.53
2018-19	2,26,138.76	23,14,429.08
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18	18.63	18.29
IMPORTS
2017-18	2,78,441.24	30,01,033.43
2018-19	3,01,814.05	35,48,004.48
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18	8.39	18.23
TRADE BALANCE
2017-18	-87,821.99	-10,44,518.91
2018-19	-75,675.29	-12,33,575.40

 

SERVICES TRADE

EXPORTS & IMPORTS (SERVICES) : (USD Billion)
(Provisional)	FEBRUARY 2019	APRIL-FEBRUARY 2018-19
EXPORTS (Receipts)	16.58	187.85
IMPORTS (Payments)	9.81	114.10
TRADE BALANCE	6.78	73.75
EXPORTS & IMPORTS (SERVICES): (Rs. Crore)
(Provisional)	FEBRUARY 2019	APRIL-FEBRUARY 2018-19
EXPORTS (Receipts)	1,18,114.23	13,14,237.86
IMPORTS (Payments)	69,861.46	7,98,280.24
TRADE BALANCE	48,252.77	5,15,957.62

Note:Services data pertains to April-February 2018-19 as February 2019 is the latest data available as per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th April 2019. It is arrived at by adding quarterly data of RBI for Q1, Q2 & Q3 of 2018-19 with Month-wise QE dataof RBI’s press release for January & February 2018-19. This has been used along with the estimate of service exports and imports for March 2019, as explained in page-1 for the purpose of this Press note.

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR MARCH 2019

 TRADE: EXPORT

Sl. No.	Commodities	(Values in Rs. crores)		% change
		MAR'18	MAR'19	MAR'19
1	Tea	442.91	517.51	16.84
2	Coffee	747.82	736.49	-1.52
3	Rice	5194.35	6445.45	24.09
4	Other cereals	257.27	190.17	-26.08
5	Tobacco	593.53	658.62	10.97
6	Spices	2257.27	2703.01	19.75
7	Cashew	359.03	395.88	10.26
8	Oil Meals	459.81	1347.52	193.06
9	Oil seeds	713.31	810.60	13.64
10	Fruits & Vegetables	2114.92	2162.86	2.27
11	Cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items	919.25	1033.31	12.41
12	Marine Products	3678.18	3666.57	-0.32
13	Meat, dairy & poultry products	2684.71	2874.80	7.08
14	Iron Ore	1148.72	1071.65	-6.71
15	Mica, Coal & Other Ores, Minerals including processed minerals	2665.06	3228.70	21.15
16	Leather & leather products	2864.46	2866.29	0.06
17	Ceramic products & glassware	1306.92	1680.79	28.61
18	Gems & Jewellery	22342.51	23785.92	6.46
19	Drugs & Pharmaceuticals	11456.79	13905.76	21.38
20	Organic & Inorganic Chemicals	12931.71	16164.48	25.00
21	Engineering Goods	52656.66	65420.06	24.24
22	Electronic Goods	4500.13	6472.16	43.82
23	Cotton Yarn/Fabs./made-ups, Handloom Products etc.	6651.12	7264.37	9.22
24	Man-made Yarn/Fabs./made-ups etc.	3047.99	3236.50	6.18
25	RMG of all Textiles	9698.54	11931.51	23.02
26	Jute Mfg. including Floor Covering	161.43	162.73	0.81
27	Carpet	816.45	883.64	8.23
28	Handicrafts excl. handmade carpet	1210.27	1191.95	-1.51
29	Petroleum Products	21539.67	24524.34	13.86
30	Plastic & Linoleum	4729.46	5341.90	12.95
	Sub Total	180150.27	212675.54	18.05
	GRAND   TOTAL	190619.25	226138.76	18.63

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

Note 2: The figures for MARCH'19 and MARCH'18 are provisional and subject to change

 

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR MARCH 2019

TRADE: EXPORT

Sl. No.	Commodities	(Values in Million USD)		% change
		MAR'18	MAR'19	MAR'19
1	Tea	68.12	74.48	9.34
2	Coffee	115.01	106.00	-7.83
3	Rice	798.87	927.69	16.13
4	Other cereals	39.57	27.37	-30.83
5	Tobacco	91.28	94.79	3.85
6	Spices	347.16	389.04	12.06
7	Cashew	55.22	56.98	3.19
8	Oil Meals	70.72	193.95	174.25
9	Oil seeds	109.70	116.67	6.35
10	Fruits & Vegetables	325.27	311.30	-4.29
11	Cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items	141.38	148.72	5.19
12	Marine Products	565.69	527.73	-6.71
13	Meat, dairy & poultry products	412.90	413.77	0.21
14	Iron Ore	176.67	154.24	-12.70
15	Mica, Coal & Other Ores, Minerals including processed minerals	409.88	464.70	13.37
16	Leather & leather products	440.54	412.54	-6.36
17	Ceramic products & glassware	201.00	241.91	20.35
18	Gems & Jewellery	3436.18	3423.49	-0.37
19	Drugs & Pharmaceuticals	1762.01	2001.45	13.59
20	Organic & Inorganic Chemicals	1988.84	2326.54	16.98
21	Engineering Goods	8098.37	9415.86	16.27
22	Electronic Goods	692.10	931.53	34.59
23	Cotton Yarn/Fabs./made-ups, Handloom Products etc.	1022.91	1045.56	2.21
24	Man-made Yarn/Fabs./made-ups etc.	468.77	465.83	-0.63
25	RMG of all Textiles	1491.59	1717.29	15.13
26	Jute Mfg. including Floor Covering	24.83	23.42	-5.68
27	Carpet	125.57	127.18	1.28
28	Handicrafts excl. hand made carpet	186.13	171.56	-7.83
29	Petroleum Products	3312.71	3529.77	6.55
30	Plastic & Linoleum	727.37	768.86	5.70
	Sub Total	27706.36	30610.22	10.48
	GRAND   TOTAL	29316.43	32547.97	11.02

Note 1: Exports include Re-Exports.

Note 2: The figures for MARCH'19 and MARCH'18 are provisional and subject to change

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

 

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR MARCH 2019

TRADE: IMPORT

Sl. No.	Commodities	(Values in Rs. crores)		% change
		MAR'18	MAR'19	MAR'19
1	Cotton Raw & Waste	347.84	404.04	16.16
2	Vegetable Oil	5476.77	6701.23	22.36
3	Pulses	341.00	943.09	176.57
4	Fruits & vegetables	997.22	1178.56	18.18
5	Pulp and Waste paper	549.10	819.06	49.16
6	Textile yarn Fabric, made-up articles	938.71	948.72	1.07
7	Fertilisers, Crude & manufactured	2078.60	3761.58	80.97
8	Sulphur & Unroasted Iron Pyrites	129.59	95.86	-26.03
9	Metalliferous ores & other minerals	5567.19	3395.43	-39.01
10	Coal, Coke & Briquettes, etc.	16027.93	14583.03	-9.01
11	Petroleum, Crude & products	72359.44	81609.46	12.78
12	Wood &  Wood products	3571.10	3487.26	-2.35
13	Leather & leather products	525.62	558.87	6.33
14	Organic & Inorganic Chemicals	13273.13	13282.00	0.07
15	Dyeing/tanning/colouring mtrls.	1610.80	1883.82	16.95
16	Artificial resins, plastic materials, etc.	9002.15	9238.32	2.62
17	Chemical material & products	4007.74	4349.32	8.52
18	Newsprint	354.93	493.57	39.06
19	Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones	19777.67	20915.70	5.75
20	Iron & Steel	8776.25	10960.12	24.88
21	Non-ferrous metals	8101.69	7709.03	-4.85
22	Machine tools	2181.24	2943.32	34.94
23	Machinery, electrical & non-electrical	22157.70	22316.44	0.72
24	Transport equipment	11824.75	12310.45	4.11
25	Project goods	920.49	2397.60	160.47
26	Professional instrument, Optical goods, etc.	3030.67	3526.12	16.35
27	Electronic goods	32236.82	32485.60	0.77
28	Medicinal. & Pharmaceutical products	3177.79	3789.40	19.25
29	Gold	16219.71	22742.92	40.22
30	Silver	1738.20	759.57	-56.30
	Sub Total	267301.85	290589.49	8.71
	GRAND   TOTAL	278441.24	301814.05	8.39

 

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

Note 2: The figures for MARCH'19 and MARCH'18 are provisional and subject to change

 

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR MARCH 2019

TRADE: IMPORT

Sl. No.	Commodities	(Values in Million USD)			% change
		MAR'18	MAR'19	MAR'19
1	Cotton Raw & Waste	53.50	58.15	8.69
2	Vegetable Oil	842.30	964.50	14.51
3	Pulses	52.44	135.74	158.85
4	Fruits & vegetables	153.37	169.63	10.60
5	Pulp and Waste paper	84.45	117.89	39.60
6	Textile yarn Fabric, made-up articles	144.37	136.55	-5.42
7	Fertilisers, Crude & manufactured	319.68	541.40	69.36
8	Sulphur & Unroasted Iron Pyrites	19.93	13.80	-30.76
9	Metalliferous ores & other minerals	856.21	488.70	-42.92
10	Coal, Coke & Briquettes, etc.	2465.03	2098.92	-14.85
11	Petroleum, Crude & products	11128.58	11745.99	5.55
12	Wood &  Wood products	549.22	501.92	-8.61
13	Leather & leather products	80.84	80.44	-0.49
14	Organic & Inorganic Chemicals	2041.35	1911.67	-6.35
15	Dyeing/tanning/colouring mtrls.	247.73	271.14	9.45
16	Artificial resins, plastic materials, etc.	1384.49	1329.66	-3.96
17	Chemical material & products	616.37	625.99	1.56
18	Newsprint	54.59	71.04	30.13
19	Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones	3041.72	3010.38	-1.03
20	Iron & Steel	1349.75	1577.48	16.87
21	Non-ferrous metals	1246.01	1109.55	-10.95
22	Machine tools	335.47	423.63	26.28
23	Machinery, electrical & non-electrical	3407.76	3211.99	-5.74
24	Transport equipment	1818.60	1771.83	-2.57
25	Project goods	141.57	345.08	143.75
26	Professional instrument, Optical goods, etc.	466.10	507.51	8.88
27	Electronic goods	4957.89	4675.63	-5.69
28	Medicinal. & Pharmaceutical products	488.73	545.41	11.60
29	Gold	2494.52	3273.37	31.22
30	Silver	267.33	109.32	-59.11
	Sub Total	41109.90	41824.31	1.74
	GRAND   TOTAL	42823.08	43439.86	1.44

Note 1: Imports include Re-Imports.

Note 2: The figures for MARCH'19 and MARCH'18 are provisional and subject to change.

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