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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
15-April-2019 18:36 IST
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 Rs. 2,26,138.76Crore in March 2019, as compared to Rs. 190,619.25Crore in March 2018, registering a positive growth of 18.63per cent.          

InMarch 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’.

 

***

MM/SB