Ministry of Commerce & Industry

India’s Foreign Trade: December 2018



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 Rs. 1,97,535.86 Crore in December 2018, as compared to Rs. 1,78,802.77 Crore in December 2017, registering a positive growth of 10.48 per cent.

InDecember 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 15thJanuary 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

(Release ID: 1560013)

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