Contracting for the 10th month in a row, India’s merchandise exports dipped 24.33 % in September to $ 21.84 billion, mainly due to steep fall in shipments of petroleum products, iron ore, and engineering goods amid tepid global demand.
The imports too shrank 25.42 % to $ 32.32 billion in September on yearly basis, thus narrowing the trade gap to 10.47 billion from $ 14.47 billion recorded in the same month of 2014.
Exports in September 2014 were valued at $ 28.86 billion.
The cumulative exports during the first half of 2015-16 have been valued at $ 132.93 billion versus $ 161.39 billion in the same period of last year. Exports were down 17.36 % yera-on-year in the first half of 2015-16.
As per the data released by the Commerce Ministry, the trade gap or trade deficit during April-September 2015-16 has narrowed to $ 67.99 billion as against $ 72.69 billion in the same period last fiscal.
The data further showed that oil imports during September were valued at $ 6.62 billion, down 54.53 % year-on – year. Oil imports during April-September stood at $ 48.128 billion which were 41.58 % lower than that of $ 82.378 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Gold imports declined by 45.62 % in September to $ 2 billion from $ 3.78 billion in the same month of 2014.
On export front, shipments of petroleum products shrank 60.35 % to $ 2.44 billion while that of iron ore declined by 40.37 % to 9.47 million.
A sharp decline in exports of engineering products was also witnessed in September. The shipments declined by 22.81 % to $ 5 billion from $ 6.5 billion in the year ago period.