India’s engineering exports drop 19% in April

The Dollar Business Bureau

India’s engineering exports to major international markets including the UAE, China, and Sri Lanka plunged by 19 percent in April this year, according to Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC).

In April, overall engineering exports shrank by 6.74 percent to $20.5 billion due to sharp fall in shipments of petroleum and engineering products. The country’s engineering imports also plummeted by 23.1 percent to $25.41 in April this year as against $33 billion during the same month last year.

According to the engineering body, India’s engineering exports to Sri Lanka have nosedived around 90 percent to 63 million in April this year as against $648 million in the same month last year.

The shipments of engineering goods to the UAE dropped by 46 percent to $331 million in April 2016 from $613 million in the same month in 2015, largely due to fall in the overseas investments in the Middle East region’s oil and infrastructure sectors.

The engineering exports to China, which primarily consist of basic metals and iron ore, witnessed a decline of 57.6 percent and stood at $102.6 million in April 2016 against $242.50 million in April 2015 as the economy of China is going through a major upheaval.

The US continues to be a major market for India’s engineering exports, with outbound shipments at around $502 million in April 2016, compared to $626 million in April 2015. However, India’s engineering shipments to the US contracted more than 19 percent in the month due to sharp fall in exports of steel and its products.

The decline in engineering exports was mostly seen in sectors such as iron and steel products, aircraft and spacecraft, and tin and nickel products.