Agri products show strong export performance

India’s merchandise exports for April-January 2022-23 have risen by 8.5% YoY, although exports for January were down by 6.6%. Most agri product groups have witnessed positive YoY growth led by Tobacco, Oil Meals and Cereal Preparations & Miscellaneous Processed Food Items. Despite the slump in figures, experts are confident that commodities exports will gain significant traction in the upcoming financial year. 

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New Delhi, Feb 16: According to the latest trade data released by Ministry of Commerce & Industry, merchandise exports rose 8.51% to US$ 369.25 billion, while imports increased 21.89% to US$ 602.20 billion during April-January 2022-23.

On the latest trade data, the government has said, “In spite of strong global headwinds, with two months remaining in the current financial year, India’s overall exports is projected to grow at 17.33% during April-January 2022-23 over same period last year.”

On Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that services exports have shown robust growth of 30% till December. Other export segments, however, have not performed well. Export sectors such as engineering goods iron ore, plastic and linoleum, gems and jewellery, recorded negative growth during the 10-months period of this fiscal.

The Ministry has stated that India’s overall exports, including merchandise and services, in January 2023 are estimated to be US$ 65.15 Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 14.58% over the same period in 2022. Overall imports in January 2023 are estimated to be US$ 66.42 Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 0.94% over the same period last year.

Electronic goods emerged as the top exports from the country with $88 billion worth exports in April-January period, followed by petroleum products at US$ 78.58 billion.

On the other hand, India’s exports dipped by 6.58% to US$ 32.91 billion in January due to slowdown in global demand, even as the trade deficit touched a 12-month low of US$ 17.75 billion during the month, according to official data released on Wednesday.

Under agri products, the highest growth for Apr-Jan 2022-23 was seen for Tobacco (US$ 1.05 billion, up by 38.7%) followed by Oil Meals (US$ 1.1 billion; up by 29.6%) and Cereal Preparations & Miscellaneous Processed Food Items (US$ 2.1 billion, up by 17.4%). Cashew saw the maximum decline (US$ 291 million, down by 23.3%) followed by Spices (US$ 3 billion, down by 5.8% YoY).

Industry experts have said, that despite the decline, commodities exports are expected to gain traction from the beginning of FY 2023-24. Though India’s domestic demand has remained steady amidst the global slump, overall imports in April-January 2022-23 are estimated to grow by 22.92% over the same period last year.

Over the years, the central government has proactively taken measure to boost domestic manufacturing through Production-Linked Incentives (PLI) schemes. India’s top 10 merchandise export destination in April-January, 2022-23 were US, UAE, Netherlands, China, Singapore, Bangladesh, UK, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Germany. Decrease in exports to China is attributed to a slowdown in its economy, which led to a slowing in demand for goods.