Page 18 - Trade Exports

No adverse impact of ongoing Red Sea crisis so far on India's trade

There is no adverse impact on India's exports and imports so far due to the Red Sea crisis, an official said. The official said that the transportation cost has increased as the shippers are taking a long route. "There is no impact in volume terms so far. Only the transportation cost is up. It has risen for all the countries. It has not affected the trade adversely so far. We have to see the long term demand, but it will depend on the EU and the US," the official added. These two regions account for over 30 per cent of the country's total exports. However, exporters said that they are keeping their fingers crossed as due to the significant jump in freight cost, India's exports may be impacted. The trade data for January will be released by the commerce ministry on February 15. In December last year, exports rose marginally by one per cent to USD 38.45 billion. Due to the attacks by Yemen-based Houthi rebels on commercial ships, the movement of goods from the Red Sea, the world's

India seeks greater market access for steel, rice, shrimp from S Korea

India has sought greater market access for certain products such as steel, rice, and shrimp from South Korea with a view to boost exports of these goods, an official said. These are part of the negotiations, which are underway, for the upgradation of the existing free trade agreement between the two countries, which is officially dubbed as comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA). The agreement was operationalised in January 2010. The 10th round of upgradation talks are underway here. "We are asking for greater market access for products such as steel, rice and shrimp," the official said. In the meeting, India has flagged issues over Korean firms not buying Indian steel. "Korean firms in India also place orders from their local firms in Korea, so this is a double whammy for Indian companies. The Korean side has asked for an increase in price competitiveness here," the official added. On rice, there is a tariff rate quota of five lakh tonnes in Korea. Under this, they h

Indian toy makers receive orders worth crores at int'l toy fair in Germany

Indian toy makers, who participated in the five-day international toy fair in Nuremberg, Germany, have received huge orders worth crores as they had showcased high-quality products, exporters say. According to the toy exporters, buyers from countries such as the US, UK, South Africa, and Germany showed interest in their products and placed a good number of orders. The Nuremberg International Toy Fair concluded on February 3. Over 2,000 exhibitors from over 65 countries participated in one of the world largest toy fairs. Greater Noida-based Little Genius Toys Pvt Ltd CEO Naresh Kumar Gautam said: "Our products received huge appreciation. Be it wooden education toys or soft toys. There was a strong anti-China sentiment for Chinese toys and Indian toys were appreciated. About 60 firms participated." He said that two-Chinese firms have expressed keen interest to set up joint ventures with Little Genius in India for toy manufacturing. "The JV would cater to both national and internatio

India to sustain exports growth, Budget provides strong foundation: Goyal

India has sustained its export growth notwithstanding the global challenges emerging due to issues like the Israel-Hamas war and the Budget has laid out a strong foundation to push the economic growth, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. The minister said that certainly, the country is facing "very severe" challenges due to these conflicts. "But despite these challenges, India continues to be a bright spot in terms of economy, economic growth, and we continue to broadly sustained our exports...I think, the Indian story is a story of resilience, and strength," Goyal told PTI in a post-budget interaction. In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that geopolitically, global affairs are becoming more complex and challenging due to wars and conflicts. Globalization is being redefined with reshoring and friend-shoring, disruption and fragmentation of supply chains, and competition for critical minerals and technologies. A new world order

Royal Enfield sales rise 2% at 76,187 units in Jan, exports decline

Motorcycle maker Royal Enfield said on Thursday its total vehicle sales grew 2 per cent year-on year to 76,187 units in January 2024. The company had sold a total of 74,746 motorcycles in January 2023. The domestic sales were up 4 per cent at 70,556 motorcycles last month compared to 67,702 units while exports declined 20 per cent at 5631 units from 7044 units in January 2023, it stated. "Our recently launched motorcycles continue to perform well across markets, and we have had a great start to the new year. We are confident that we will sustain our growth momentum for months to come," said B Govindarajan, CEO at Royal Enfield.

Interim Budget 2024: Commerce department seeks 10% hike in Rodtep

For the current financial year, the finance ministry had allocated Rs 15,069 crore towards the scheme. A 10 per cent jump will make the allocation for the scheme Rs 16,575.9 crore

Red Sea route accounts for 50% country's exports, 30% of imports: Report

The impact of the ongoing crisis around the Red Sea shipping route, which accounts for 50 per cent of the country's exports and 30 per cent of imports last fiscal, will vary depending on the industry, according to a report. The crisis in the Red Sea shipping route began after Yemen-based Houthi rebels launched frequent attacks on commercial shipping vessels plying through the route in November as a fallout of the Israeli-Palestinian war, which started in early October 2023. Currently, the US and British forces are also engaged in counter-attacks on the militants. Domestic companies use the Red Sea route through the Suez Canal to trade with Europe, North America, North Africa and part of the Middle East. Last fiscal, these regions accounted for 50 per cent of the country's exports worth Rs 18 lakh crore and 30 per cent of imports worth Rs 17 lakh crore. The country's overall merchandise trade was Rs 94 lakh crore last fiscal, with 68 per cent in value and 95 per cent in volume being

Rodtep reimbursements: Govt likely to guide industry on documentation

The RoDTEP scheme allows refunds of the embedded non-creditable central, state and local levies paid on inputs to exporters and is compliant with World Trade Organisation (WTO) norms

Commerce ministry to launch portal to provide info to aspiring exporters

The commerce ministry will launch an online platform in the next 2-3 months to provide all relevant information, including details about custom duties, for aspiring exporters. Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said the portal will act as a one-stop place for getting all information on engaging in export activities. The 'Trade Connect ePlatform' will provide facilitation for new and aspiring exporters, information on various regulations to access markets, sectors, export trends, and easy access of benefits under Free Trade Agreements. Besides, it will facilitate access to sector specific events along with a facility to address trade related queries to officials in Government of India and associated entities to get expert advice.

India's corn exports plunge as domestic prices rally on strong demand

India usually exports around 250,000 to 300,000 metric tons of corn every month but in December its exports fell to around 30,000 tons

Exports of oilmeals rise 16% to 1.22 mn tonne in December quarter

The country's oilmeals exports rose 16 per cent to 12.20 lakh tonne in the third quarter of the current fiscal compared to the year-ago period, industry body SEA said on Thursday. Around 10.53 lakh tonne of oilmeals was exported during the October-December quarter of 2022-23. According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), the country exported 6.24 lakh tonne of soybean meal, 4.79 lakh tonne of rapeseed meal, 1.14 lakh tonne of castor seed meal and 2,642 lakh tonne of groundnut meal in third quarter of the current fiscal. In December alone, total oilmeals exports were at 5.32 lakh tonne, up by 23 per cent from 4.33 lakh tonne in the year-ago period, it said. SEA said the country's export of soyameal rose due to price competitiveness amid shortage of Argentine export supplies in recent months. The major consumer of Indian soybean meal is South East Asia, where India has a logistic advantage and also can supply in small lots, it added. The industry body also mention

India rejects iron ore miner NMDC's proposal for China exports -sources

China accounts for around 80% of India's overall iron ore shipments. India primarily exports low-grade iron ore - with iron content below 58% and most of India's shipments go to China

Tea exports dip 1.65% during Jan to Oct 2023, reach 182.69 million kg

Tea exports from the country dipped 1.65 per cent at 182.69 million kilogramme during January to October of 2023 as compared to 185.75 million kilogramme in the same period of the previous calendar. Exports from North India during the first 10 months of calendar 2023 stood lower at 110.33 million kilogramme, registering a decline of 4.62 per cent from the preceding similar period, according to Tea Board data. Similarly, exports from South India on the contrary increased 3.25 per cent at 72.36 million kilogramme during January to October of 2023, as against 70.08 million kilogramme in the similar previous period. During calendar 2022, exports of tea stood at 231.08 million kilogramme, registering a rise of 17.57 per cent over 2021 at 196.54 million kilogramme. Sources in the tea industry said that the export scenario remains grim as shipments to Iran are in jeopardy due to the payment problem with that country. Iran traditionally imports 20 per cent of India's tea exports, but that

Govt may consider cash refunds to exporters to improve cash flow: GTRI

The government can consider giving refunds to exporters in cash instead of scrips for tax remission schemes, as it would immediately improve cash flow for them, economic think tank GTRI said on Tuesday. At present, the refund under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme and the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) scheme is issued as a scrip, which can be used to pay basic customs duties at the time of import. The scrip can be sold to other importers, who can later use the scrip instead of cash for payment of basic customs duty. These schemes refund select central and state levies to Indian exporters. "Refund RODTEP and ROSCTL dues to exporters in cash and not in the form of scrips. This will immediately improve the cash flow of thousands of exporters facing a weak export outlook for 2024," the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. The RoSCTL refunds taxes for apparel and made-up sectors. RoDTEP covers most of the remaining

Govt levies 50% export duty on molasses, relief for edible oil imports

The government has imposed 50 per cent duty on exports of molasses, a by-product of sugarcane used as raw material for alcohol production, with effect from January 18. A finance ministry notification said molasses resulting from the extraction or refining of sugar will attract 50 per cent export duty. In another notification, the finance ministry extended the existing concessional duty rates on imports of crude and refined edible oils -- palm, soyabean and sunflower -- by one year till March 31, 2025. The basic import duty on refined soyabean oil and sunflower oil was cut to 12.5 per cent from 17.5 per cent , in June last year. India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, and a small quantity of crude soft oil, including soyabean from Argentina. Sunflower oil is imported from Ukraine and Russia.

Trade deficit falls to three-month low of $19.8 billion in December

Merchandise imports, meanwhile, grew 8.45 per cent to $58.25 billion, boosted by gold imports

India electronics exports to US jump two-fold to $6.6 bn in Jan-Sep 2023

Electronics exports from India to the US jumped over two-fold year-on-year to USD 6.6 billion during January-September 2023, industry body ICEA has said. India Cellular and Electronics Association Chairman Pankaj Mahindroo told PTI that this is an all-time high electronics export from India, while the share of electronics imported from China into the US market has declined. "Recent data highlights a notable surge in India's electronics exports to the US, which increased by approximately 253 per cent to an estimated USD 6.6 billion in the current year (January-September), compared to an estimated USD 2.6 billion in the same period last year," Mohindroo said. According to data shared by ICEA, India's electronics exports to the US increased by more than 300 per cent from an estimated USD 1.3 billion in 2018 to an estimated USD 4.5 billion in 2022. The bilateral electronics trade between India and the US has also seen an impressive rise of 84 per cent, with the current estimate standin

DRDO should emerge as world leader in exporting weapon systems: Ajay Bhatt

The DRDO's knowledge and infrastructure base needs to be tapped by MSMEs and private industries, and DRDO should emerge as the world leader in exporting weapon systems, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said on Sunday. Bhatt visited DRDO's Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex and the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) here and reviewed the ongoing missile technologies and related programmes, a Defence ministry release said. Director General, Missiles and Strategic Systems, U Raja Babu briefed the minister on various technological developments. "The DRDO's knowledge and infrastructure base needs to be tapped by MSMEs and private industries, which in turn will lead to the establishment of a self-reliant defence industrial ecosystem in our country, he said. The union minister also said that DRDO should emerge as the world leader in exporting weapon systems to the other nations, the release said. He emphasised that defence today is no longer limited to land, sea or skies but encompasse

India asks US to permit domestic labs for fruit irradiation to cut cost

India has asked the US to allow domestic labs also for irradiation of certain fruits like mangoes with a view to helping exporters cut additional trade costs, an official said. At present, exporters have to carry out irradiation at the US ports, which increases cost and uncertainty in case of rejection of the consignment. The issue was raised during the 14th India-US Trade Policy Forum meeting here on January 12. "We have raised the issue of fruit irradiation which they do on their coast. Let it happen here. They can allow Indian labs to do so. It will reduce trade costs in a way," the official said. According to international trade experts, several Indian products may require irradiation at the US ports before entering the US market to comply with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulations and prevent the introduction of harmful pests and diseases. Think tank GTRI Co-Founder Ajay Srivastava said that a better way is to carry out irradiation in India before

Centre, state, exporters to discuss ways to boost exports on Jan 16

The Centre, state governments and industry representatives will meet on January 16 to discuss ways to boost the country's exports, an official said. Issues which are expected to figure in the meeting include rupee payment challenges, need of global shipping, and challenges being faced by traders on account of the Red Sea crisis, and uncertain global economic situation due to the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel-Hamas conflict. The meeting will be chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. They all are members of the Board of Trade (BoT). "There are over 135 members of BoT. It is meeting on January 16 at Bharat Mandapam," the official said. Headed by the minister, the board includes participants from various states, Union Territories, and senior officials from the public and private sectors. In the meeting, representatives of export promotion councils present their views on the export sector. The board provides an opportunity to have regular discussions and consultations