Engineering exports recorded around 3.3% cumulative growth year-on-year during the first five months of fiscal 2023-24

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November-2024 engineering exports hit peak growth for fiscal 2023-2024

Trade Flow Export figures(in $ billion) Growth (%)
Mar-2023 Mar-2024 Apr-Mar 2022-23 Apr-Mar 2023-24 Mar-2024 over Mar-2023 Apr-Mar 2022-23 over Apr-Mar 2023-24
Engineering exports 7.82 8.90 69.32 75.47 13.75% 8.87%
Overall merchandise exports 33.75 32.11 278.26 284.31 -4.83% 2.17%
Share of engineering (%) 23.18% 27.71% 24.91% 26.87% --- ---
Service Exports 28.11 35.67 220.08 251.94 26.89% 14.48%

Source : Compiled from data by DGCI&S and Quick Estimates published by the Government of India

Overall Engineering Exports vs Engineering Exports Excluding Steel Segment (Values in USD Million)

Trade Flow Export in Mar-2023 Export in Mar-2024 Growth (%) Exports in Apr-Mar 2022-23 Exports in Apr-Mar 2023-24 Growth (%)
Overall engineering exports 7822.25 8897.64 13.75 69321.93 75472.31 8.87
Engineering exports excluding Iron and Steel 7166.14 8133.59 13.50 61796.10 69274.83 12.10

Source : DGCI&S, Govt. of India


Engineering Exports: Monthly Trend

The monthly engineering figures for 2023-24 vis-à-vis 2022-23 are shown below as per the latest DGCI&S estimates: 
Table 1: Engineering Exports: Monthly Trend in 2023-24

US$ million

Month 2022-23 2023-24 Growth (%)
April 8949.36 8366.65 -6.51
May 9300.62 9818 5.56
June 8515.72 9193.63 7.96
April-June 26765.71 27378.28 2.29
July 8720.3 8959.5 2.74
August 9048.65 9332.19 3.13
September 8886.54 9725.08 9.44
July-September 26655.49 28016.78 5.11
October 8078.48 11179.62 38.39
November 7822.25 8897.64 13.75
April-November 69321.93 75472.31 8.87

Source : DGCIS, Govt. of India

TOP 25 ENGINEERING EXPORT DESTINATIONS IN April-November 2023-24

We now look at the export scenario of the top 25 nations that had highest demand for Indian engineering products during March 2024 over March 2023 as well as in cumulative terms during April-March 2023-24 vis-à-vis April-March 2022-23. The data clearly shows that top 25 countries contribute almost 76% of total engineering exports. 
Table 2: Engineering exports country wise

(US$ million)

Countries Mar-2023 Mar-2024 Growth (%) April-November 2022-23 April-November 2023-24 Growth (%)
U S A 1312.78 1417.75 8% 11434.7 12122.64 6.02%
U ARAB EMTS 384.31 776.25 101.99% 3428.01 5316.64 55.09%
SAUDI ARAB 484.73 559.12 15.35% 3090.49 3549.55 14.85%
SINGAPORE 197.95 342.66 73.1% 2087.88 3496.91 67.49%
GERMANY 263.76 312.21 18.37% 2695.66 2763.99 2.53%
U K 238.12 257.9 8.31% 2355.66 2447.11 3.88%
TURKEY 172.85 238.2 37.81% 1855.07 2141.8 15.46%
SOUTH AFRICA 143.02 233.39 63.19% 1485.05 1620.38 9.11%
ITALY 191.87 219.28 14.29% 2347.57 2036.82 -13.24%
MEXICO 300.45 209.03 -30.43% 2131.09 2350.25 10.28%
KOREA RP 234.2 206.77 -11.71% 1804.18 1761.44 -2.37%
CHINA P RP 201.93 187.71 -7.04% 1643.7 1747.51 6.32%
BANGLADESH PR 175.24 178.56 1.9% 1478.29 1374.21 -7.04%
JAPAN 149.05 177.85 19.33% 1179.13 1537.35 30.38%
BRAZIL 156.55 164.01 4.77% 1333.37 1481.19 11.09%
NEPAL 119.01 162.25 36.33% 1457.08 1456.59 -0.03%
NETHERLAND 109.67 150.39 37.13% 1285.31 1243.35 -3.26%
INDONESIA 119.87 147.82 23.31% 1820.37 1413.33 -22.36%
THAILAND 135.91 143.13 5.31% 1216.13 1312.69 7.94%
MALAYSIA 143.11 126.28 -11.76% 1230.96 977.58 -20.58%
FRANCE 146.81 124.64 -15.11% 1391.9 1414.46 1.62%
BELGIUM 86.46 119.82 38.59% 1004.6 957.2 -4.72%
NIGERIA 77.63 106.73 37.48% 691.96 652.35 -5.72%
TANZANIA REP 60.06 105.45 75.58% 541.48 499.57 -7.74%
VIETNAM SOC REP 85.61 103.39 20.76% 769.81 951.65 23.62%
Total engineering exports to top 25 countries 5690.95 6770.59 18.97% 51759.44 56626.56 9.4%
Total engineering exports 7822.25 8897.64 13.75% 69321.93 75472.31 8.87%

Source : DGCI&S

REGION WISE INDIA’S ENGINEERING EXPORTS

The following table depicts region wise India’s engineering exports for April-March 2023-24 as opposed to April-March 2022-23.
Table 3: Region wise engineering exports in April-February 2023-2024 vis-à-vis April-November 2022-2023

(US$ million)

Regions Mar-2023 Mar-2024 Growth (%) April-November 2022-23 April-November 2023-24 Growth (%)
NORTH AMERICA 1698.07 1712.01 0.82% 14329.74 15268.05 6.55%
WANA 1386.18 1690.6 21.96% 9825.42 12314.93 25.34%
EUROPEAN UNION 1220.99 1456.93 19.32% 12675.37 12925.8 1.98%
ASEAN 742.33 932.81 25.66% 7669.78 8800.27 14.74%
SSA( Sub Saharan Africa) 590.24 763.75 29.4% 5323.61 5450.59 2.39%
N E ASIA 641.8 634.62 -1.12% 5212.92 5651.74 8.42%
OTHER EUROPE 433.33 535.68 23.62% 4444.98 4874.42 9.66%
SOUTH ASIA 423.78 481.38 13.59% 3907.25 4082.37 4.48%
LATIN AMERICA 421.32 455.34 8.07% 3820.65 3963.55 3.74%
CIS 133.59 131.53 -1.54% 1079.36 1203.18 11.47%
OCEANIA 129.35 97.17 -24.88% 1015.63 909.17 -10.48%
OTHERS 1.27 1.4 10.1% 17.23 23.32 35.38%

Note : *Figures have been rounded off.

Source : DGCI&S **Myanmar has been included in ASEAN and not in South Asia, since ASEAN is a formal economic grouping.

PRODUCT PANEL WISE ENGINEERING EXPORTS

In this section we look at the Engineering Panel wise exports for the month of March 2024 vis-à-vis March 2023 as well as the cumulative exports for April-March 2023-24 vis-à-vis April-March 2022-23. These are indicated in the tables below. 
Table 4a. Trend in exports of iron and steel and its products

(US$ million)

Product panels November-2023 November-2024 Growth April-November 2022-23 April-November 2023-24 Growth
IRON AND STEEL 656.1 764.05 16.45% 7525.83 6197.48 -17.65%
PRODUCTS OF IRON AND STEEL 712.17 748.99 5.17% 6385.44 6461.59 1.19%
Sub Total 1368.27 1513.04 11% 13911.27 12659.07 -9%

Source : DGCI&S

Table 4b. Trend in exports of Non-Ferrous Metals and Products

US$ Million

Product panels November-2023 November-2024 Growth April-November 2022-23 April-November 2023-24 Growth
Aluminium and products made of Aluminium 543.03 556.37 2.46% 4707.38 4439.49 -5.69%
Copper and products made of copper 213.08 171.72 -19.41% 1602.13 1478.79 -7.7%
Lead and products made of Lead 79.27 75.01 -5.37% 460.37 571.05 24.04%
Nickel and products made of Nickel 14.01 11.4 -18.64% 114.65 118.86 3.67%
Other Non Ferrous Metals and their products 56.23 61.66 9.66% 488.63 564.96 15.62%
Tin and products made of Tin 1.52 2.01 32.6% 10.25 14.87 45.11%
Zinc and products made of zinc 52.35 50.85 -2.86% 502.45 476.89 -5.09%
Sub Total 959.48 929.02 -3% 7885.85 7664.92 -3%

Source : DGCI&S

Table 4c. Trend in exports of Industrial Machinery

US$ Million

Product panels November-2023 November-2024 Growth April-November 2022-23 April-November 2023-24 Growth
Air condition and Refrigeration Machinery and Parts, Industrial Furnaces, Water heaters and Centrifuges and Compressor 133.4 139.41 4.51% 1092.27 1234.33 13.01%
IC Engines and Parts 239.42 248.65 3.85% 2397.15 2457.98 2.54%
Industrial Machinery for dairy, agriculture, food processing, textiles, paper, chemicals, etc 614.52 565.63 -7.95% 5255.11 5362.18 2.04%
Machine Tools 61.53 58.28 -5.28% 490.95 522.89 6.51%
Machinery for ATMs, Injecting Moulding machinery, valves, etc 188.84 193.25 2.34% 1622.07 1799.08 10.91%
Nuclear Reactors, Industrial Boilers and Parts 52.61 69.88 32.81% 467.37 555.6 18.88%
Pumps of all types 101.32 114.4 12.91% 905.39 1018.32 12.47%
Sub Total 1391.64 1389.5 -0.15% 12230.31 12950.38 5.89%

Source : DGCI&S

Table 4d. Trend in exports of Electrical Machinery and Equipment

US$ Million

Product panels November-2023 November-2024 Growth April-November 2022-23 April-November 2023-24 Growth
Electric Machinery and Equipment 885.41 1123.2 26.86% 8091.54 9349.04 15.54%

Source : DGCI&S

Table 4e. Trend in exports of Auto and auto parts

US$ Million

Product panels November-2023 November-2024 Growth April-November 2022-23 April-November 2023-24 Growth
AUTO COMPONENTS/PARTS 576.377 576.844 0.08% 4988.289 5384.93 7.95%
AUTO TYRES AND TUBES 221.864 236.992 6.82% 1827.709 2005.573 9.73%
Motor Vehicle/cars 666.977 726.444 8.92% 5597.2 5879.729 5.05%
Two and Three Wheelers 201.204 260.267 29.35% 1738.438 2090.608 20.26%
Sub Total 1666.423 1800.547 8.05% 14151.635 15360.84 8.54%

Source : DGCI&S

Table 4f. Trend in exports of aircraft, spacecraft and parts and ships, boats and floating structures

US$ Million

Product panels November-2023 November-2024 Growth April-November 2022-23 April-November 2023-24 Growth
Aircrafts, Spacecrafts and Parts 255.37 780.98 205.82% 1063.47 3873.17 1416.68%
Ships, Boats and Floating Structures 108.82 208.7 91.78% 2347.27 3224.38 2863%
Sub Total 364.19 989.68 171.74% 3410.74 7097.55 108.09%

Source : DGCI&S

Table 4g. Trend in exports of other engineering products

US$ Million

Product panels November-2023 November-2024 Growth April-November 2022-23 April-November 2023-24 Growth
BICYCLE AND PARTS 24.38 29.39 20.53% 236.48 253.43 7.17%
Hand Tools, Cutting Tools and Implements made of Metals 68.06 79.17 16.33% 608.84 679.13 11.54%
Medical and Scientific Instruments 193.23 218.9 13.29% 1580.47 1808.62 14.44%
OFFICE EQUIPMENTS 24.37 21.73 -10.83% 221.55 193.46 -12.68%
OTHER CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY 296.88 204.64 -31.07% 1977.03 1986.73 0.49%
OTHER MISC. ITEMS 326.99 357.37 9.29% 3016.08 3318.43 10.02%
PRIME MICA AND MICA PRODUCTS 2.21 2.93 32.93% 25.32 20.45 -19.26%
Railway Transport and Parts 27.81 36.24 30.34% 214.32 234.11 9.23%
PROJECT GOODS 0.09 0.08 -13.43% 2.11 1.61 -23.58%
OTHR RUBBER PRODCT EXCPT FOOTW 130.83 131.75 0.71% 1093.55 1165.34 6.56%

Source : DGCI&S

ENGINEERING PRODUCT PANELS – COUNTRY-WISE ANALYSIS

Table 5: Export of Different Panels

(US$ million)

Product panels Top 5 nations April-November 2022-23 April-November 2023-24 Growth (%)
Iron and Steel and Products made of Iron and Steel
U S A 2126.03 2304.05 8%
U ARAB EMTS 795.06 947.88 19%
ITALY 1265.32 937.97 -26%
U K 486.9 593.44 22%
NEPAL 649.2 560.72 -14%
Non-Ferrous Metals and Products made of Non-Ferrous Metals
U S A 971.28 940.05 -3%
KOREA RP 807.03 647.36 -20%
TURKEY 133.17 508.72 282%
SAUDI ARAB 764.53 479.04 -37%
CHINA P RP 336.1 412.53 23%
Industrial Machinery
U S A 2409.49 2700.62 12%
U ARAB EMTS 524.46 622.48 19%
GERMANY 670.24 589.94 -12%
CHINA P RP 465.28 559.68 20%
THAILAND 526.84 494.17 -6%
Electrical Machinery
U S A 1573.24 1796.86 14%
SINGAPORE 657.07 1111.23 69%
U K 649.98 648.31 -0%
GERMANY 470.87 635.04 35%
KOREA RP 296.42 490.9 66%
Automobiles
U S A 1592.55 1564.46 -2%
MEXICO 1067.69 1218.86 14%
SAUDI ARAB 1150.24 1126.23 -2%
SOUTH AFRICA 944.6 1071.65 13%
U ARAB EMTS 569.17 722.41 27%
Aircrafts and Spacecraft parts and products
U ARAB EMTS 15.65 1247.01 7869%
SAUDI ARAB 1.57 571.21 36370%
FRANCE 124.63 320.99 158%
TURKEY 62.21 294.09 373%
CZECH REPUBLIC 3.4 264.08 7659%
Ships Boats and Floating products and parts
SINGAPORE 638.16 1632.76 156%
U ARAB EMTS 506.53 660.89 30%
INDONESIA 556.18 289.5 -48%
U S A 52.66 251.15 377%
SRI LANKA DSR 271.46 133.96 -51%
Project Goods
KAZAKHSTAN 0 0.35 N/A
U S A 0.16 0.33 105%
INDONESIA 0.19 0.27 41%
BHUTAN 0.02 0.14 509%
KENYA 0.04 0.08 113%
Other Rubber Product Except Footwear
U S A 242.5 265.58 10%
GERMANY 76.16 74.16 -3%
U ARAB EMTS 39.1 49.98 28%
NETHERLAND 32.62 42.58 31%
CHINA P RP 41.43 42.19 2%
Other engineering products
U S A 1858.68 1944.43 5%
GERMANY 372.33 419.69 13%
U K 379.24 406.26 7%
U ARAB EMTS 353.42 385.02 9%
SAUDI ARAB 346.53 265.66 -23%

Source : DGCI&S

ENGINEERING EXPORTS – STATE-WISE ANALYSIS

State wise engineering export performance

State wise engineering export performance

The table below indicates the exports from top Indian states. It is evident from the table that almost 90.4 % of India’s exports is contributed by the listed 12 states. Within this almost 50 percent of exports is done by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat together.

Table 6: Top state wise engineering export performance - April-September 2024-25

(US$ million)

Top States Cumulative Export April-September 2024-25 Share % Remark
Maharashtra 14616.5 22.3% 94.6% share covered by top 12 states
Tamil Nadu 11634.93 17.75%
Gujarat 11014.67 16.81%
Telangana 4866.89 7.43%
Karnataka 4625.73 7.06%
Odisha 3903.34 5.96%
Andhra Pradesh 3215.62 4.91%
Uttar Pradesh 2838.87 4.33%
West Bengal 2251.39 3.44%
Madhya Pradesh 1260.13 1.92%
Rajasthan 917.91 1.4%
Daman & Diu And Dadra & Nagar Haveli 821.82 1.25%
Haryana 692.92 1.06%
Kerala 544.77 0.83%
Chhattisgarh 533.84 0.81%
Jharkhand 529.7 0.81%
Delhi 432.74 0.66%
Punjab 318.01 0.49%
Goa 273.05 0.42%
Puducherry 122.58 0.19%
Bihar 42.6 0.07%
Uttarakhand 32.05 0.05%
Assam 12.85 0.02%
Himachal Pradesh 11.71 0.02%
Tripura 10.94 0.02%
Chandigarh 4.09 0.01%
Arunachal Pradesh 1.61 0%
Jammu & Kashmir 1.21 0%
Manipur 0.65 0%
Sikkim 0.58 0%
Meghalaya 0.13 0%
Andaman & Nicobar 0.08 0%
Lakshadweep 0.06 0%
Ladakh 0 0%
Mizoram 0 0%
Nagaland 0 0%

Source : DGCI&S

Region wise engineering exports

In terms of region, western region which includes industrial states like Maharashtra and Gujarat is the front runner in terms of exports with 34.5 percent share. Tamil Nadu from the Southern Region has improved its export performance and it ranked second after Maharashtra, while Gujarat and Odisha ranked third and fourth during AprilMarch 2023-24 and Haryana came up to fifth position while Karnataka came down to sixth position compared to previous the previous months.

Note : DGCI&S state wise data available till February-2024

Table 7: Region wise exports from India till February-2024

Value in US$ million

Region Mar-2023($Mn) Mar-2024($Mn) Growth % Apr-Mar 2022-23($Mn) Apr-Mar 2023-24 ($Mn) Growth %
SOUTHERN REGION 2394.14 3137.46 31.05% 20739.14 25010.58 20.6%
WESTERN REGION 2956.54 3041.8 2.88% 26342.32 27986.17 6.24%
EASTERN REGION 811.74 923.47 13.76% 7704.86 7287.13 -5.42%
NORTHERN REGION 1685.24 323.96 -80.78% 14689.02 5250.09 -64.26%
Grand Total 7847.66 7426.69 -5.36% 69475.34 65533.97 -5.67%

CORRELATION BETWEEN MANUFACTURING PRODUCTION AND ENGINEERING EXPORTS

Engineering sector is an important component of the broader manufacturing sector and the share of engineering production in overall manufacturing output is quite significant. As exports generally come from what is produced within a country, some correlation between manufacturing production growth and engineering export growth should exist. We briefly looked at the trend in manufacturing growth as also engineering export growth to see if they move in tandem. It may be mentioned that manufacturing has 77.63% weightage in India’s industrial production.

Engineering export growth and manufacturing output growth moved in the same direction in as many as nine out of twelve months in each of the fiscal years 2019-20 and 2020-21. During fiscal 2021-22, engineering export growth and manufacturing growth moved in the same direction in seven out of twelve months while in fiscal 2022-23, as many as 10 out of 12 months saw engineering exports and manufacturing output moved in the same direction.

Ten out of the first ten months of fiscal 2023-24 saw engineering exports growth and manufacturing output growth moved in the same direction barring April 2024. During April, decline in engineering export was slightly higher over Mar 2024 while manufacturing output growth recorded a sharp rise. During May and July 2023, engineering exports witnessed slower decline and manufacturing output managed higher growth over the previous month while in June 2023, engineering exports conceded higher decline and manufacturing output growth slowed down. During August, October, December in 2023 and February 2024, both engineering exports and

manufacturing output recorded higher growth (engineering exports came back to growth path in August and December 2023 from decline in previous month) while in September 2023, November 2023 and January 2024, both of them conceded slower growth or decline.

The link between these two may not be established on a monthly basis, but a positive correlation may be seen if medium to long term trend is considered.

Table 8: Engineering exports growth vis-à-vis manufacturing growth from April 2020
Months/ Year Engg. Export Growth (%) Manufacturing Growth (%)
April 2020 -63.05 -66.6
May 2020 -22.17 -37.8
June 2020 -5.18 -17.0
July 2020 10.56 -11.4
August 2020 -7.01 -7.6
September 2020 4.09 0.4
October 2020 -5.01 4.5
November 2020 -8.37 -1.6
December 2020 -0.93 2.7
January 2021 16.66 -0.9
February 2021 -4.94 -3.4
March 2021 67.75 28.3
April 2021 236.85 196.0
May 2021 50.21 32.1
June 2021 51.00 13.2
July 2021 42.57 10.5
August 2021 58.63 11.1
September 2021 35.11 4.3
October 2021 51.76 3.3
November 2021 37.28 0.3
December 2021 47.42 0.6
January 2022 25.63 1.9
February 2022 35.49 0.2
March 2022 19.72 1.4
April 2022 18.30 5.6
May 2022 11.45 20.6
June 2022 3.01 13.0
July 2022 -0.03 3.2
August 2022 -12.64 -0.5
September 2022 -11.39 2.0
October 2022 -19.68 -5.8
November 2022 0.09 6.7
December 2022 -11.60 3.6
January 2023 -9.76 4.0
February 2023 -9.73 5.6
March 2023 -7.49 0.5
April 2023 -7.27 5.5
May 2023 -4.13 6.3
June 2023 -10.94 3.5
July 2023 -6.65 5.0
August 2023 7.83 9.3
September 2023 6.81 4.5
October 2023 7.20 N A
November 2023 -3.48 1.2
December 2023 9.82 4.5
January 2024 4.21 3.6
February 2024 15.9 5.0
March 2024 10.66 N A
April 2024 -4.49 3.9
May 2024 7.41 4.6
June 2024 10.27 N A
July 2024 3.66 4.6
August 2024 4.26 1.0
September 2024 9.44 3.9
October 2024 38.39 4.1

Source :Department of Commerce and CSO

IMPACT OF EXCHANGE RATE ON INDIA’S EXPORTS

How did the exchange rate fare during March 2024 and what was the recent trend in Re-Dollar movement? In order to get a clearer picture of the recent Re-Dollar trend, not only we took the exchange rate of March 2024, but also considered monthly average exchange rate of Rupee vis-à-vis the US Dollar for each month of fiscal 2023-24 as well as 2022-23 as mere one-month figure does not reflect any trend. The following table clearly depicts the short-term trend:

Fig 3: Trend of Rupee vis-a-vis US dollar from April 2020

(Monthly Average Rate of FBIL has been considered)

Source : FBIL

Table 9: USD-INR monthly average exchange rate in 2024-25 vis-à-vis 2023-24

(As per latest data released by FBIL)

Monthly Average Exchange Rate (1 USD to INR) Year-on-Year Change (%) Direction Month-on-Month Change (%) Direction
Month 2023-24 2024-25
April 82.02 83.41 1.69 Depreciation 0.49 Depreciation
May 82.34 83.39 1.28 Depreciation -0.02 Appreciation
June 82.23 83.47 1.51 Depreciation 0.10 Depreciation
July 82.15 83.59 1.75 Depreciation 0.14 Depreciation
August 82.79 83.89 1.33 Depreciation 0.36 Depreciation
September 83.05 83.81 0.92 Depreciation -0.10 Depreciation
October 83.24 84.02 0.94 Depreciation 0.25 Depreciation
November 83.30 84.36 1.27 Depreciation 0.40 Depreciation

Rupee depreciation vis-à-vis the US Dollar continued on a year-on-year basis and this time in March 2024, Rupee depreciated on a month-on-month basis too after appreciation in previous three months. Outflow of funds from India capital market due to global economic and geo political uncertainty pushed Rupee lower.

Table 10: USD-INR monthly average exchange rate in 2023-24 vis-à-vis 2022-23

(As per latest data released by FBIL)

Monthly Average Exchange Rate (1 USD to INR) Year-on-Year Change (%) Direction Month-on-Month Change (%) Direction
Month 2022-23 2023-24
Apr 76.17 82.02 7.68 Depreciation -0.33 Appreciation
May 77.32 82.34 6.49 Depreciation 0.39 Depreciation
Jun 78.04 82.23 5.37 Depreciation -0.13 Appreciation
Jul 79.60 82.15 3.20 Depreciation -0.10 Appreciation
Aug 80.23 83.04 3.50 Depreciation 0.78 Depreciation
Sep 80.23 83.04 3.50 Depreciation 0.30 Depreciation
Oct 82.34 83.24 1.09 Depreciation 0.24 Depreciation
Nov 81.81 83.30 1.82 Depreciation 0.07 Depreciation
Dec 82.46 83.28 0.99 Depreciation -0.02 Appreciation
Jan 81.90 83.12 1.49 Depreciation -0.19 Appreciation
Feb 82.61 82.96 0.42 Depreciation -0.19 Appreciation
Mar 82.29 83.00 0.86 Depreciation 0.05 Depreciation

Source : FBIL, EEPC Research

TREND IN ENGINEERING TRADE BALANCE

We now present the trend in two-way yearly trade for the engineering sector for the 2023-24 depicted in the table below:

Table 11: Monthly Trend in Engineering Trade Balance for the current FY

(US$ million)

Trade Flow Apr May June July August September October November
Engineering Export 11034.8 10.0 9.4 9.0 9.4 9.8 11.2 8.9
Engineering Import 10985.6 12.9 12.0 12.5 14.1 12.7 13.4 13.0
Trade Balance -0.4 -2.9 -2.6 -3.5 -4.7 -2.9 -2.2 -4.1

Source : DGCI&S

TO CONCLUDE...

The Indian engineering exports revived in the last few months of FY 2023-24 contributing towards the significant cumulative positive growth for the entire fiscal. Revival of exports was noted in many key regions including North America, EU and North East Asia. Our new FTAs with UAE and Australia has also been effective in boosting our exports to WANA and Oceania regions. It is important to mention here that the global trade is also showing signs of revival. This performance was made even though the Indian exporters faced a number of issues including decline in demand in key geographies, forex crisis in many markets, geopolitical conflicts across the world and logistical issues. In 2023, global merchandise exports declined by 5% - compared to that India’s performance has been good.

The UNCTAD update further mentions that the outlook for 2024 remains positive despite certain uncertainties such as the geopolitical conflicts and logistical issues. The protectionist environmental policies of EU and slow economic revival in China will continue to create uncertainties for the exporters. To create further opportunities it is essential that we increase our value added exports. Also, new FTAs with important partners especially those in Latin America would be key for trade diversification. Overall although worries are there, the exporting community in India and across the world remains hopeful of 2024.