India’s Foreign Trade: October 2018

India’s overall exports (Merchandise and Services combined) in April-October 2018-19* are estimated to be USD 308.32 Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 17.17 per cent over the same period last year. Overall imports in April-October 2018-19* are estimated to be USD 374.88 Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 18.88 per cent over the same period last year.

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

  1. MERCHANDISE TRADE

EXPORTS (including re-exports)

Exports in October 2018 were US $ 26.98 Billion, as compared to US $ 22.89 Billion in October 2017, exhibiting a positive growth of 17.86 per cent. In Rupee terms, exports were Rs. 1,98,634.84 Crore in October 2018, as compared to Rs. 1,48,962.64 Crore in October 2017, registering a positive growth of 33.35 per cent.

In October 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-October 2018-19 was US $ 191.01 Billion (Rs. 13,23,940.28 Crore) as against US $ 168.64 Billion (Rs. 10,87,270.47 Crore) during the period April-October 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 13.27 per cent in Dollar terms (21.77 per cent in Rupee terms).

Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports in October 2018 were US $ 18.94 Billion, as compared to US $ 16.54 Billion in October 2017, exhibiting a positive growth of 14.54 per cent. Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports in April-October 2018-19 were US $ 137.98 Billion, as compared to US $ 124.45 Billion for the corresponding period in 2017-18, an increase of 10.88 %.

IMPORTS

Imports in October 2018 were US $ 44.11 Billion (Rs. 3,24,774.78 Crore), which was 17.62 per cent higher in Dollar terms and 33.07 per cent higher in Rupee terms over imports of US $ 37.50 Billion (Rs. 2,44,064.20 Crore) in October 2017. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-October 2018-19 was US $ 302.47 Billion (Rs. 20,97,058.41Crore), as against US $ 259.92 Billion (Rs. 16,75,887.95 Crore) during the period April-October 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 16.37 per cent in Dollar terms (25.13 per cent in Rupee terms).

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

CRUDE OIL AND NON-OIL IMPORTS:

Oil imports in October 2018 were US $ 14.21 Billion (Rs. 1,04,630.60 Crore), which was 52.64 percent higher in Dollar terms (72.70 percent higher in Rupee terms), compared to US $ 9.31 Billion (Rs. 60,586.10 Crore) in October 2017. Oil imports in April-October 2018-19 were US $ 83.94 Billion (Rs. 5,82,813.70 Crore) which was 50.48 per cent higher in Dollar terms (62.01 percent higher in Rupee terms) compared to US $ 55.78 Billion (Rs. 3,59,733.15 Crore), over the same period last year.

In this connection it is mentioned that the global Brent price ($/bbl) has increased by 39.66% in October 2018 vis-à-vis October 2017 as per data available from World Bank (Pink Sheet).

Non-oil imports in October 2018 were estimated at US $ 29.90 Billion (Rs. 2,20,144.18 Crore) which was 6.05 per cent higher in Dollar terms (19.98 percent higher in Rupee terms), compared to US $ 28.19 Billion (Rs. 1,83,478.10 Crore) in October 2017. Non-oil imports in April-October 2018-19 were US $ 218.53 Billion (Rs. 15,14,244.71 Crore) which was 7.05 per cent higher in Dollar terms (15.05 percent higher in Rupee terms), compared to US $ 204.14 Billion (Rs. 13,16,154.80 Crore) in April-October 2017-18.

Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports were US $ 28.21 billion in October 2018, recording a positive growth of 11.77 per cent, as compared to Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports in October 2017. Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports were US $ 199.21 billion in April-October 2018-19, recording a positive growth of 8.14 per cent, as compared to Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports in April-October 2017-18.

  1. TRADE IN SERVICES (for September, 2018, as per the RBI Press Release dated 15th November 2018)

EXPORTS (Receipts)

Exports in September 2018 were US $ 16.38 Billion (Rs. 1,18,295.88 Crore) registering a negative growth of 0.88 per cent in dollar terms, vis-à-vis August 2018. (as per RBI’s Press Release for the respective months).

IMPORTS (Payments)

Imports in September 2018 were US $ 9.95 Billion (Rs. 71,825.34 Crore) registering a negative growth of 3.94 per cent in dollar terms, vis-à-vis August 2018.  (as per RBI’s Press Release for the respective months).

III.TRADE BALANCE

MERCHANDISE: The trade deficit for October 2018 was estimated at US $ 17.13 Billion as against the deficit of US $ 14.61 Billion in October 2017.

SERVICES: As per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th November 2018, the trade balance in Services (i.e. Net Services export) for September, 2018 is estimated at US $ 6.44 Billion.

OVERALL TRADE BALANCE: Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April-October 2018-19* is estimated at US $ 66.57 Billion as compared to US $ 52.23 Billion in April-October 2017-18.

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

MERCHANDISE TRADE

EXPORTS & IMPORTS: (US $ Billion)
(PROVISIONAL)
  OCTOBER APRIL- OCTOBER
EXPORTS (including re-exports)
2017-18 22.89 168.64
2018-19 26.98 191.01
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18 17.86 13.27
IMPORTS    
2017-18 37.50 259.92
2018-19 44.11 302.47
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18 17.62 16.37
TRADE BALANCE    
2017-18 -14.61 -91.28
2018-19 -17.13 -111.46
EXPORTS & IMPORTS: (Rs. Crore)
(PROVISIONAL)
  OCTOBER APRIL- OCTOBER
EXPORTS(including re-exports)
2017-18 1,48,962.64 10,87,270.47
2018-19 1,98,634.84 13,23,940.28
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18 33.35 21.77
IMPORTS    
2017-18 2,44,064.20 16,75,887.95
2018-19 3,24,774.78 20,97,058.41
%Growth 2018-19/ 2017-18 33.07 25.13
TRADE BALANCE    
2017-18 -95,101.56 -5,88,617.48
2018-19 -1,26,139.94 -7,73,118.13

SERVICES TRADE

EXPORTS & IMPORTS (SERVICES) : (US $ Billion)
(Provisional) SEPTEMBER 2018 APRIL- SEPTEMBER 2018-19
EXPORTS (Receipts) 16.38 101.07
IMPORTS (Payments) 9.95 62.57
TRADE BALANCE 6.44 38.50
EXPORTS & IMPORTS (SERVICES): (Rs. Crore)
(Provisional) SEPTEMBER 2018 APRIL-SEPTEMBER 2018-19
EXPORTS (Receipts) 1,18,295.88  6,92,694.98
IMPORTS (Payments)  71,825.34  4,28,772.48
TRADE BALANCE  46,470.55  2,63,922.50

Note: Services data pertains to April-September 2018-19 as September 2018 is the latest data available as per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th November 2018. April-September 2017-18 data is arrived at by adding Month-wise QE data. This has been used along with the estimate of service exports and imports for October 2018, as explained in page-1 for the purpose of this Press note.

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR OCTOBER 2018

 TRADE: EXPORT

Sl. No. Commodities (Values in Rs. crores) % change
OCT’17 OCT’18 OCT’18
1 Tea 463.71 573.48 23.67
2 Coffee 397.79 366.71 -7.81
3 Rice 3497.64 3324.93 -4.94
4 Other cereals 153.90 171.16 11.21
5 Tobacco 517.81 521.19 0.65
6 Spices 1458.08 1937.09 32.85
7 Cashew 531.23 353.67 -33.42
8 Oil Meals 426.31 583.62 36.90
9 Oil seeds 558.56 616.29 10.34
10 Fruits & Vegetables 1123.78 1668.77 48.50
11 Cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items 689.26 982.85 42.60
12 Marine Products 4781.41 5076.23 6.17
13 Meat, dairy & poultry products 3038.96 2668.51 -12.19
14 Iron Ore 749.89 961.31 28.19
15 Mica, Coal & Other Ores, Minerals including processed minerals 1597.25 2310.44 44.65
16 Leather & leather products 2403.78 3033.97 26.22
17 Ceramic products & glassware 979.37 1668.95 70.41
18 Gems & Jewellery 21539.59 25704.15 19.33
19 Drugs & Pharmaceuticals 8735.24 11151.23 27.66
20 Organic & Inorganic Chemicals 8995.36 13638.60 51.62
21 Engineering Goods 38103.67 46935.32 23.18
22 Electronic Goods 2968.44 5785.26 94.89
23 Cotton Yarn/Fabs./made-ups, Handloom Products etc. 5376.03 6704.34 24.71
24 Man-made Yarn/Fabs./made-ups etc. 2311.89 3037.27 31.38
25 RMG of all Textiles 5401.86 8327.42 54.16
26 Jute Mfg. including Floor Covering 150.65 192.19 27.58
27 Carpet 667.69 1013.21 51.75
28 Handicrafts excl. handmade carpet 870.47 1078.37 23.88
29 Petroleum Products 19807.05 33476.05 69.01
30 Plastic & Linoleum 3557.11 5306.76 49.19
Sub Total 141853.75 189169.34 33.36
 GRAND   TOTAL 148962.64 198634.84 33.35

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

Note 2: The figures for OCTOBER’18 and OCTOBER’17 are provisional and subject to change

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR OCTOBER 2018

TRADE: EXPORT

Sl. No. Commodities (Values in Million USD) % change
OCT’17 OCT’18 OCT’18
1 Tea 71.25 77.88 9.31
2 Coffee 61.12 49.80 -18.52
3 Rice 537.43 451.56 -15.98
4 Other cereals 23.65 23.25 -1.69
5 Tobacco 79.56 70.78 -11.04
6 Spices 224.04 263.08 17.43
7 Cashew 81.63 48.03 -41.16
8 Oil Meals 65.50 79.26 21.01
9 Oil seeds 85.82 83.70 -2.47
10 Fruits & Vegetables 172.67 226.64 31.26
11 Cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items 105.91 133.48 26.03
12 Marine Products 734.68 689.40 -6.16
13 Meat, dairy & poultry products 466.95 362.41 -22.39
14 Iron Ore 115.22 130.56 13.31
15 Mica, Coal & Other Ores, Minerals including processed minerals 245.42 313.78 27.85
16 Leather & leather products 369.35 412.04 11.56
17 Ceramic products & glassware 150.48 226.66 50.62
18 Gems & Jewellery 3309.64 3490.88 5.48
19 Drugs & Pharmaceuticals 1342.20 1514.45 12.83
20 Organic & Inorganic Chemicals 1382.17 1852.26 34.01
21 Engineering Goods 5854.78 6374.28 8.87
22 Electronic Goods 456.11 785.70 72.26
23 Cotton Yarn/Fabs./made-ups, Handloom Products etc. 826.05 910.52 10.23
24 Man-made Yarn/Fabs./made-ups etc. 355.23 412.49 16.12
25 RMG of all Textiles 830.02 1130.95 36.26
26 Jute Mfg. including Floor Covering 23.15 26.10 12.74
27 Carpet 102.59 137.60 34.13
28 Handicrafts excl. hand made carpet 133.75 146.45 9.50
29 Petroleum Products 3043.43 4546.38 49.38
30 Plastic & Linoleum 546.56 720.71 31.86
Sub Total 21796.36 25691.08 17.87
 GRAND   TOTAL 22888.70 26976.59 17.86

Note 1: Exports include Re-Exports.

Note 2: The figures for OCTOBER’18 and OCTOBER’17 are provisional and subject to change

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

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR OCTOBER 2018

TRADE: IMPORT

Sl. No. Commodities (Values in Rs. crores) % change
OCT’17 OCT’18 OCT’18
1 Cotton Raw & Waste 206.39 258.30 25.15
2  Vegetable Oil 5504.91 5489.70 -0.28
3 Pulses 1548.97 827.63 -46.57
4 Fruits & vegetables 1353.13 1815.72 34.19
5 Pulp and Waste paper 713.21 842.99 18.20
6 Textile yarn Fabric, made-up articles 1002.06 1294.43 29.18
7 Fertilisers, Crude & manufactured 3823.55 3045.46 -20.35
8 Sulphur & Unroasted Iron Pyrites 45.20 72.62 60.65
9 Metalliferous ores & other minerals 5493.25 5185.99 -5.59
10 Coal, Coke & Briquettes, etc. 13136.31 16702.34 27.15
11 Petroleum, Crude & products 60586.10 104630.60 72.70
12 Wood &  Wood products 3083.35 3757.37 21.86
13 Leather & leather products 514.48 634.70 23.37
14 Organic & Inorganic Chemicals 10957.85 15699.41 43.27
15 Dyeing/tanning/colouring mtrls. 1592.89 2170.46 36.26
16 Artificial resins, plastic materials, etc. 7344.29 9981.02 35.90
17 Chemical material & products 3332.28 5081.02 52.48
18 Newsprint 428.54 742.78 73.33
19 Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones 11620.05 13456.77 15.81
20 Iron & Steel 7276.74 10883.66 49.57
21 Non-ferrous metals 6652.17 9612.07 44.50
22 Machine tools 1703.72 3033.68 78.06
23 Machinery, electrical & non-electrical 17242.93 21937.41 27.23
24 Transport equipment 12323.38 10749.90 -12.77
25 Project goods 1635.55 1119.58 -31.55
26 Professional instrument, Optical goods, etc. 2520.12 3189.10 26.55
27 Electronic goods 25861.38 38606.09 49.28
28 Medicinal. & Pharmaceutical products 3125.57 3917.02 25.32
29 Gold 19201.20 12404.52 -35.40
30 Silver 2256.47 3874.55 71.71
Sub Total 232086.05 311016.89 34.01
 GRAND   TOTAL 244064.20 324774.78 33.07

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

Note 2: The figures for OCTOBER’18 and OCTOBER’17 are provisional and subject to change

QUICK ESTIMATES FOR SELECTED MAJOR COMMODITIES FOR OCTOBER 2018

TRADE: IMPORT

Sl. No. Commodities (Values in Million USD) % change
OCT’17 OCT’18 OCT’18  
1 Cotton Raw & Waste 31.71 35.08 10.63  
2  Vegetable Oil 845.85 745.56 -11.86  
3 Pulses 238.01 112.40 -52.78  
4 Fruits & vegetables 207.91 246.59 18.60  
5 Pulp and Waste paper 109.59 114.49 4.47  
6 Textile yarn Fabric, made-up articles 153.97 175.80 14.18  
7 Fertilisers, Crude & manufactured 587.50 413.60 -29.60  
8 Sulphur & Unroasted Iron Pyrites 6.95 9.86 41.87  
9 Metalliferous ores & other minerals 844.06 704.31 -16.56  
10 Coal, Coke & Briquettes, etc. 2018.45 2268.34 12.38  
11 Petroleum, Crude & products 9309.30 14209.88 52.64  
12 Wood &  Wood products 473.77 510.29 7.71  
13 Leather & leather products 79.05 86.20 9.04  
14 Organic & Inorganic Chemicals 1683.72 2132.14 26.63  
15 Dyeing/tanning/colouring mtrls. 244.75 294.77 20.44  
16 Artificial resins, plastic materials, etc. 1128.48 1355.52 20.12  
17 Chemical material & products 512.02 690.05 34.77  
18 Newsprint 65.85 100.88 53.20  
19 Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones 1785.47 1827.56 2.36  
20 Iron & Steel 1118.10 1478.11 32.20  
21 Non-ferrous metals 1022.13 1305.41 27.71  
22 Machine tools 261.78 412.00 57.38  
23 Machinery, electrical & non-electrical 2649.44 2979.32 12.45  
24 Transport equipment 1893.54 1459.94 -22.90  
25 Project goods 251.31 152.05 -39.50  
26 Professional instrument, Optical goods, etc. 387.23 433.11 11.85  
27 Electronic goods 3973.70 5243.09 31.94  
28 Medicinal. & Pharmaceutical products 480.26 531.97 10.77  
29 Gold 2950.34 1684.66 -42.90  
30 Silver 346.72 526.20 51.77  
Sub Total 35660.96 42239.18 18.45  
 GRAND   TOTAL 37501.43 44107.65 17.62  

Note 1: Imports include Re-Imports.

Note 2: The figures for OCTOBER’18 and OCTOBER’17 are provisional and subject to change.

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