Page 16 - Trade Exports

Next round of talks on proposed India-Peru trade agreement likely in Jun

The chief negotiators of India and South American nation Peru are likely to hold the next rounds of talks for a proposed free trade agreement in June, an official statement said on Thursday. So far, seven rounds of talks have been completed. "The next round, expected in June 2024, will be preceded by intersessional negotiations over VC (video conference) to ensure that outstanding issues are resolved before the two parties meet again," the commerce ministry said. The seventh round of talks involved understanding priorities and mutual concerns and ensuring that the negotiations are rooted in mutual respect and benefit, it added. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the basic principle of negotiations should be understanding strengths and respecting sensitivities of each other. The modalities of negotiation may emerge from appropriate stakeholder consultations, and feedback from the industry and the negotiating teams should engage in a gainful and explorative approach, he said. R

Citroën becomes the first multinational carmaker to export EVs from India

Citroën despatched 500 units of the Made-in-India ë-C3 to Indonesia from the Kamarajar Port

Needed an Apple encore

India can do better in electronics exports

Majority of commodities exported to China record positive growth in 2023

As many as 90 principal commodities like iron ore, telecom instruments and electronic components exported to China have recorded a positive growth in 2023 out of the total 161 such goods shipped to the neighbouring country, according to commerce ministry data. These 90 commodities account for 67.7 per cent of India's export basket to China, while 71 products that have registered a negative export growth in 2023 constitute 32.3 per cent, the data showed. There are four commodities level where India has improved its export to China by more than USD 100 million in 2023. They are iron ore (216.8 per cent to USD 3.33 billion in 2023), cotton yarn (542.6 per cent to USD 611.17 million in 2023), spices (19.4 per cent to USD 132.26 million in 2023), and processed minerals (174.19 per cent to USD 129 million in 2023). For another fifteen products, the improvement in exports is in the bracket of USD 10 -100 billion. These goods include marine products, iron and steel, telecom instruments, ..

Global merchandise trade growth in volume terms may dip 1.2% in 2024: GTRI

The growth in the global merchandise trade is likely to decline by 1.2 per cent, in value terms, due to the ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said on Thursday. The US dollar value of world merchandise trade fell 5 per cent in 2023 to USD 24.01 trillion, but this decline was mostly offset by a strong increase in commercial services trade, which rose 9 per cent to USD 7.54 trillion, it said. This allowed world goods and commercial services exports on a balance of payments basis to slip 2 per cent in 2023 to USD 30.8 trillion. "Despite the World Trade Organization (WTO) expecting a 2.6 per cent rise in trade volume for 2024, the value of world merchandise trade is still seen to decline by 1.2 per cent in 2024 from 2023, continuing the trend of trade values falling behind the trade volumes," the think tank said. The WTO has projected that the world merchandise trade volume will grow by 2.6 per cent in 2024 and 3.3 per cent i

Plastic exports grow 14.3% to $997 mn in February: Plexconcil report

India's plastic exports grew 14.3 per cent year-on-year to USD 997 million in February due to a rise in demand in various product categories, an apex industry body said on Friday. The overall plastic exports stood at USD 872 million in February 2023, Plastic Export Promotion Council Plexconcil said in a statement. According to Plexconcil data, there was significant export growth in February 2024 across the majority of the product panels like plastic raw materials, plastic films and sheets, woven sacks, and floor coverings, among others. However, panels like writing instruments and stationery, consumer and houseware products, human hair and related products, and miscellaneous products and items faced challenges in achieving growth during the same period, it added. "Amidst fluctuating trends, India's plastic exports grew in February, reaching USD 997 million, a 14.3 per cent rise from the previous year. Initiatives like PLEXCONNECT 2024 aim to fortify global connections. Scheduled fo

Merchandise exports may shrink despite expecting double-digit growth in Mar

Merchandise exports grew at fastest pace in 20 months at 11.9% in Feb

Enhance biz environment, boost non-farm jobs via trade openness: World Bank

Labour productivity and the working-age population, the twin engines of growth in the South Asian region, are slowing

Govt waives duty on export of 1,000 tonnes of non-basmati kalanamak rice

The government has removed duty on the Kalanamak variety of rice for exports of up to 1,000 tonnes through six specified customs stations. The duty on overseas shipments of Kalanamak rice was 20 per cent. According to a notification by the Finance Ministry, the duty waiver on the export of up to 1,000 tonnes of this variety of rice will come into effect from Wednesday. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Tuesday had allowed exports of up to 1,000 tonnes of Kalanamak rice through specified customs stations. Kalanamak is a variety of non-basmati rice, exports of which were earlier prohibited. Exports of this variety of rice are allowed through six customs stations - Varanasi Air Cargo; JNCH (Jawaharlal Nehru Customs House), Maharashtra; CH (customs house) Kandla, Gujarat; LCS (land customs station) Nepalgunj Road; LCS Sonauli; and LCS Barhni.

Strong signals: Mobile phone output tops Rs 4.1 trillion in FY24

Industry experts attribute the increase in the average sale price of a phone to customers' shift towards premiumisation, bolstered by the growing adoption of 5G phones

India's push for EVs may lead to entry of Chinese firms in mkt: GTRI

The Indian government's push to boost domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs) may lead to large-scale entry of Chinese auto firms in the local market, a report by think tank GTRI said on Sunday. China's automotive industry, buoyed by substantial state support, has grown rapidly in electric vehicle technology, making it a leading exporter of EVs and related components, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. The renewed policy push to make India a hub for e-vehicle manufacturing and efforts of the private sector will lead to a sharp increase in dependence on auto component imports from China, the report said. India's auto component imports were USD 20.3 billion in 2022-23 of which 30 per cent came from China. As the EVs are getting greater focus in the country, the auto component imports from China may increase further because it has a greater hold over the EV components' global supply chain. According to estimates, China has 75 per cent of the world's battery .

Govt extends export ban on onion to increase domestic availability

The government has extended the export ban on onion till further orders, according to a notification of the commerce ministry. Earlier, it was prohibited till March 31 this year. "Export prohibition on export of onions valid till 31st March 2024, is extended until further orders," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a notification dated March 22. DGFT is an arm of the ministry which deals with exports and imports-related issues.

India's exports may reach $450 bn this fiscal: FIEO Prez Ashwani Kumar

The country's merchandise exports are expected to reach USD 450 billion by the end of this fiscal despite geo-political challenges like the Red Sea crisis, newly elected president of apex exporters body FIEO Ashwani Kumar said on Tuesday. He said that the need of the hour is to address the Red Sea crisis challenges by ensuring the availability of marine insurance and rational increase in freight charges. The exporting sector, particularly, MSMEs, needs easy and low-cost credit, and marketing support to further boost the country's exports, Kumar said, adding early conclusion of free trade agreements such as with the UK and Oman will also help push the outbound shipments. "I will focus on addressing issues of MSMEs as they are going to play. They will play a key role in achieving the USD 1 trillion goods export target by 2030. They are the backbone of the economy and they are facing certain issues pertaining to credit. I would urge banks to come forward in extending support to these

Significant ramp up in capacities to help achieve $40 bn exports target

Steps such as significant ramp up in production capacities, and skilling of workforce will help achieve USD 40 billion garment exports target by 2030, AEPC said on Tuesday. Apparel Export Promotion Council of India (AEPC) Chairman Sudhir Sekhri said skilled workers like tailors and quality checkers are still not sufficient as during the peak season they go to their native villages thereby creating shortage. "Our target to reach USD 40 billion of RMG (readymade garments) export by 2030 can be a reality and my duty is to take every possible step to reach this target," Sekhri said. He said "we need to ramp up our capacities as the export houses in India are still unable to handle core/basic products which are required in huge quantities". He added that the council is also focused on skilling the workforce. "We are creating about 150,000 skilled workers every year but it is still not enough. To attain the growth that we are targeting, we need to empower our workforce with skills," he

Rajasthan govt prepares draft policy to boost exports via ease of doing biz

The draft policy strives to have competitive export logistics in the state for all modes. The focus will also be on skill development programmes to encourage entrepreneurship in the field

Global toy majors shifting focus from China to India, exports jumped 239%

Popular brands like Hasbro, Mattel, and Spin Master depend more on India for sourcing

TEPA with EFTA - welcome but no big deal

The EFTA's market access offer covers 100 per cent of non-agricultural products and tariff concessions on processed agricultural products

India's smartphone exports to US jump to $ 3.53 bn in Apr-Dec FY24

India's smartphone exports to the US jumped to USD 3.53 billion in April-December this fiscal against USD 998 million in the same period last year, according to the Commerce Ministry data. The increasing outbound shipments led to an increase in the smarphones' market share to 7.76 per cent during April-December this fiscal from 2 per cent in the same period of last year, the data showed. Increasing exports have made India the third-biggest smartphone exporter to the US. An official said that an increase in overall smartphone production has helped in pushing exports. During the nine-month period of this fiscal, the share of China and Vietnam declined. The US smartphone imports from the top five suppliers also declined during April-December to USD 45.1 billion from USD 49.1 billion in FY'23. China exported USD 35.1 billion worth of smartphones to the US market in April-December, down from USD 38.26 billion last year. Vietnam's shipments of phones declined to USD 5.47 billion in ..

Exports grow fastest in 20 months; Feb trade deficit widens to $18.71 bn

Export growth in February was led by electronics, meat, dairy and poultry, chemicals, drugs and pharmaceuticals, and engineering goods

Oilmeals exports increased 9% in Feb to nearly 516K tonnes, says SEA

Oilmeals export rose 9 per cent year-on-year in February to nearly 5.16 lakh tonnes on higher outward shipments of soyabean meal, according to trade data. In a statement on Friday, Solvent Extraction of India (SEA) said the export of oilmeals in February stood at 515,704 tonne as compared to 4,71,770 tonne in the year-ago period. Of the total oilmeals export last month, the shipments of soyabean meal stood at 3,47,905 tonne and rapeseed meal 1,44,372 tonne. The data showed that the total export of oilmeals during the April-February period of this fiscal increased 19 per cent to 44,90,055 tonne as compared to 37,60,329 tonne in the corresponding period of the previous year. The export of soybean meal during the April-February period of the 2023-24 fiscal rose to 19.34 lakh tonne compared to 7.87 lakh tonne in the same period of the previous year as Indian soybean meal was most competitive in the international market. However, SEA said that soyameal exports might slow down because