India's plastics export jump 31.6% to $4.59 bn in H1 FY19

India's plastics exports posted a growth of 31.6 per cent at USD 4.59 billion during the period April - September 2018 (H12018-19) as against USD 3.48 billion in same period during H1 2017-18, registering a faster pace of growth than the overall merchandise export growth from India, as per the Plastics Export Promotion Council (Plexconcil).

During H1 2018-19, India reported merchandise exports worth USD 164.04 billion, up 12.5 per cent from USD 145.75 billion in H1 2017-18.

According to Plexconcil, plastics formed 2.80 per cent of India's overall merchandise exports in H12018-19. The growth in India's plastics export has been primarily boosted by higher shipment of plastic raw materials, plastic sheet, film, plates, and packaging materials.

During H1 2018-19, 23 out of the top 25 destination countries recorded year-on-year growth in plastics export from India. Exports to China, Vietnam and Mexico witnessed high growth rates ranging between 70-140 per cent during the H1 2018-19 period, association said in a statement here.

"China, United States and United Arab Emirates continue to be top-3 destinations for India's plastics products. These three countries accounted for 27.5 per cent of India's plastics product exports, by value, during H1 2018-19. And we added new destination countries for plastics export which includes French Guiana, Guam, Kiribati Republic, Lesotho, Marshall Island, Mayotte, Monaco, Nauru Republic and United States Virgin Islands," Plexconcil chairman Ravish B Kamath said.

"In the first half of 2018-19, the trend in plastic exports from India has been very positive with a strong year-on-year growth vis-a-vis 2017-18 with August 2018 topping USD 800 million and registering 38.1 per cent y-o-y growth. India's plastics exports in H1 2018-19 were boosted by higher exports, especially to North-East Asia, Africa, European Union, Asean, South Asia, and North America," Plexconcil executive director Sribash Dasmohapatra said.

"Having achieved a superior growth in H1 2018-19, we are confident of surpassing our export target of USD 10.6 billion in 2018-19 for products under the purview of our council. We laud the government's support and outreach initiative for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector that was unveiled recently.

Since MSMEs form the backbone of our economy, the initiatives in the form of easier access to credit of upto Rs 1 crore within 59 minutes, and increase in interest rebate from 3 to 5 per cent for exporters, among others are steps in the right direction," Kamath said.

The country's plastics industry offers potential in terms of capacity, infrastructure and skilled manpower. India is currently ranked among the top five consumers of polymers in the world and has 30,000 plus plastic processing units employing over four million (40 lakh) people across the country, the release said.