India’s exports to United States, single-largest buyer of goods produced by the country, contracted 11.5 per cent in the five month period ending February, 2009 and stood at $9.6 billion as against $11 billion in the year ago period a study by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) revealed.
According to the industry lobby group, the dip in exports from India to the US was sharper than that seen in competing countries like China, Korea and Brazil. Ficci also said that in the same period under consideration, US-bound exports from Ireland, Indonesia and Vietnam actually grew in the range of 3 to 12 per cent. But India fared better than Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Russia and Singapore.
India's exports have been declining since October, due to lesser demand in key markets like United States and European Union because of the ongoing global financial crisis. Exports and Imports data for 2008-09 will be released on Friday by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.
“The sharp decline in our exports to the US that accounts for 13 per cent of our global exports, is a matter of deep concern,” Harsh Pati Singhania, president, Ficci said in a release.
The decline in exports was lead by sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles and apparel, pharmaceuticals, vehicles and auto parts, marine products as well as non-ferrous metals, which account for nearly 60 per cent of the goods sent to the US from India.
The contraction would have been far worse, but for some moderate exports growth seen in sectors such as chemicals, machinery, iron & steel, instruments, leather, plastics, agro-items and processed food.
Ficci expressed concern at the increase in exports of certain items from competitor countries to the US. According to the study, apparels and textiles exports from Bangladesh expanded 18 per cent while that if Vietnam increased 9 per cent. India’s exports from the same sector dipped 6.5 per cent in the period under consideration, Ficci said.
The industry body also pointed towards pharmaceutical exports to the US, which increased in the range of 27 to 41 per cent from China, Israel and South Korea in the period under consideration. But India’s exports from the sector dipped 37 per cent in the same period.
