Drop in foreign trade

Drop in foreign trade

Context

  • India’s goods shipments dropped for the third time in five months in February, after falling 11.6% in October 2022 and 3% in December 2022.
  • Tentative global demand reduced India’s commodities exports by 8.8% in February to 33.9 billion, while imports dropped 8.2% year on year to 51.31 billion.
  • India’s total goods exports for the first 11 months of 2022-23 are now at 405 bills, 7.55% greater than at the same time in 2021-22. Over the same period, imports increased by 18.82% to $653.47 billion.

Engineering goods(111.63), petroleum products (65) gems and jewelry (38.94), and organic and inorganic chemicals(29) are some of the items that rank top in export. And when it comes to imports petroleum and crude(160), electronic goods (73) gold (46), and Machinery, electric and non-electric (40) rank in this order.

  • The drop was led by a 29% drop in crude exports, a 12% drop in chemical cargoes, and a 10% drop in engineering product outflows.
  • Global market weakness dragged down 13 more of India’s top 30 export products.
  • Imports fell 8.2% in February, indicating weak domestic consumption.
  • A prolonged period of falling shipments could result in manufacturing employment losses and a dent in consumer spending.
  • In the face of weakened exports, the government is attempting to reduce inessential imports to keep the deficit in control.
  • Policy space could be better used to help importers enter new markets and respond more quickly to volatile market conditions.