Exports decline for 13th straight month in Dec

19 Jan '16

2 min read

For the 13th month in a row, India's merchandise exports contracted 14.75 per cent in December 2015 to $22.2 billion due to a steep fall in shipment of petroleum products and engineering goods amid tepid global demand while the trade deficit widened on higher gold imports, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry. Imports shrank 3.88 per cent to $33.96 billion in December on yearly basis.

Gold imports shot up, widening the trade deficit to a 4-month high of $11.66 billion, as against $9.17 billion in December 2014. The overall trade gap in August last year was $12.47 billion. Gold imports rose to $3.80 billion last month, up from $1.36 billion in December 2014.

In December 2015, shipments of petroleum products shrank 47.69 per cent to $2.36 billion, year-on-year, while that of iron ore declined by 69.54 per cent to 21.24 million.

Exports of engineering products also fell in December -- down 15.68 per cent at $5.82 billion. Gems and jewelery exports dipped 7.75 per cent.

During the current fiscal, the cumulative exports during the April-December period declined by 18.06 per cent to $196.6 billion, as against $239.9 billion in the first 9 months of 2014-15.

Imports fell 15.87 per cent to $295.8 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $99.2 billion. The trade gap was $111.68 billion in April-December 2014-15. (SH)

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