Engineering exports to US dips 10% in Apr-Nov: EEPC

Exports to Germany fell by about 6% during the period

India's engineering exports to its one of biggest destination - the US - has dipped by about 10% to $3.90 billion during April-November this fiscal due to slowdown in global demand.

"The shipments to the US dropped by 9.19% to 3.90 billion during April-November this fiscal from $4.3 billion and the country is among India's largest destination," Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) said in a statement today.

Similarly, the exports to Germany fell by about 6% to $1.3 billion during the period.

"The signs of recovery in some of the key western countries like the US are hazy. This way, there was a drop in the overall engineering exports by over 14% in November," EEPC India Chairman Anupam Shah said.

However, he said that engineering exports to few countries with which India has free trade agreements have shown a healthy growth during the April-November period of this fiscal.

The sector's shipment to Japan have recorded a growth of 17% during the eight month of the current fiscal to $568 million from $485 million in the same period last year, EEPC said.

Similarly, the exports to South Korea grew by over 13% to $739 million during the period, it said.

India has implemented a comprehensive free trade pacts with both these nations.

"The Japanese economy is doing rather well, while the manufacturing base in South Korea kept the momentum alive despite problems in the west," Shah said.

He said that a similar trend was seen in the trade among the neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal with which India has some kind of liberalised trading regime.

Engineering shipments to Sri Lanka went up by 18.57% to $1.34 billion during the period from $1.13 billion a year ago. Likewise, the exports to Nepal were up 20.84% to $577 million.

However, he said that engineering exports to Singapore, with which India has implemented FTA in 2005, have registered a decline.

"Exports of the engineering goods to this island nation in the April-November month saw a drop of 2.11% to $1.99 billion," he added.