India’s Exports in June decline by 22% to $32.97 billion, steepest monthly fall in 3 years

NEW DELHI: India’s exports contracted by 22%, the steepest decline in the last three years, to $32.97 billion in June on account of global demand slowdown, especially in the Western markets like the US andEurope.

According to the data of the Commerce Ministry, the trade deficit in June stood at $20.3 billion against $22.07 billion in the same month last year due to a fall in exports and imports.

Theinboundshipmentsduringthe month under review declined by a steep17.48%to$53.10billion.

ExportsinMay2020contractedby 36.47% when the world was reeling under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Commenting on the numbers, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said trade sector growth is inthehandsofglobalfactors.

As the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has projected a slowdown in world trade, “that fear is coming true”,headded.

Citing reasons for the dip in trade growth,hesaidthereisaslowdownin major economies, including the US and Europe; and inflationary pressure.

Healsoattributedtheslowdownto thetighteningofmonetarypoliciesby the rich nations as it is affecting manufacturingandbusinesses.

Export promotion councils are expecting the demand to pick up in the coming months. “From July, there should be pick up,” the Secretarysaid.

Cumulatively, exports dipped by 15.13percentto$102.68billionduring April-June this fiscal. Imports too declined by 12.67 per cent to $ 160.28 billion.

The trade deficit during AprilJune 2023 improved by 7.9 pc to $ 57.6 billion from $ 62.6 billion in the sameperiodlastyear.

Oil imports in June contracted by 33.8 per cent to $ 12.54 billion, while during the April-June quarter, the shipments slipped 18.52 per cent to $43.4billion.

However, gold imports in June rose 82.38 per cent to about $ 5 billion, while it dipped by 7.54 per cent to $9.7billionintheApril-Junequarter.

The Ministry said that India’s trade performance, after witnessing “very high” growth in 2022-23, hasshowndecliningtrendscompared to the high base of last year in the backdropofaglobalslowdown.

As per the World Bank Global Economic Prospects report (June2023),theglobaleconomyisset to slow substantially in 2023 to 2.1 per cent after growing at 3.1percentlastyear.

On the exports front, 21 of the 30 keysectorsexhibitednegativegrowth in June. These include petroleum products, plastic, ready-made garments of all textiles, engineering, chemicals, gems and jewellery, leatherandmarine.

However, exports of electronic goods increased by 45.36 per cent in June to $ 2.43 billion. During April-June2023,theseexportsroseby 47percentto$6.96billion.

Silver imports slumped by 94.36 percentfrom$0.79 billioninthe monthunderreview.

According to the data, imports from Russia jumped to $ 16 billion during April-June this fiscal from $ 6.91 billion in the same period last year.

Imports from Switzerland rose to $5billionduringApril-Junethisfiscal from $ 4.11 billion in the same period lastyear.

However, the imports from China dipped to $ 23.6 billion in the first quarter of this fiscal as compared to $24.31billioninApril-June2022.

The inbound shipments from the UAE too declined to $ 10.31 billion in the first quarter of this fiscal as compared to $ 13.55 billion in April-June2022.

On the export front, the country’s shipments have recorded positive growth in the Netherlands, the UK, andSaudiArabia.ItdeclinedtoChina, UAE, USA, Germany, Italy and Bangladesh.