India’s merchandise exports slumped by over 60 percent in April 2020 as the domestic government imposed nationwide Lockdown to combat COVID-19 pandemic. During April 2020 only Iron Ore and Drugs & Pharmaceuticals registered 17.53% and 0.25% year-on-year exports growth respectively, all other commodity/commodity groups conceded substantial declines in exports vis-à-vis April 2019.
India Exports:
The spread of COVID-19 resulted in large scale disruptions in supply chains and demand, and subsequent cancellation of orders. Overall Merchandise exports from India stood at USD 10.36 billion during April 2020 as compared to USD 26.07 billion in April 2019, exhibiting a drop of 60.28 percent. In Rupee terms, the decline was 56.39 percent.
Moreover, exports in March 2020 conceded 34.57 percent decline year-on-year while fiscal 2019-20 too saw 4.78 percent fall in merchandise exports over the previous fiscal.
India Imports:
Overall Merchandise Imports from India during April 2020 too registered a decline of 58.65 percent in Dollar terms to USD 17.12 billion as compared to USD 41.40 billion a year ago. The cumulative value of imports in fiscal 2019-20 was 9.12 percent lower in Dollar terms over the previous fiscal.
Trade Deficit:
Trade deficit narrowed down by 55.9 percent year-on-year in April 2020 as it dropped to USD 6.76 billion from USD 15.33 billion in the same month last fiscal.
Moreover, Trade deficit declined by 16.91 percent during fiscal 2019-20 over the previous one.
India’s engineering exports declined by 63.93 percent in April 2020 following the broader merchandise exports
Analysis of Indian engineering exports and imports for April 2020
Engineering exports from India had declined 42.5 percent year-on-year in March 2020.
In April 2020 they conceded a 63.93 percent further decline over the same month last fiscal.
Engineering exports in India during April 2020 stood at as low as USD 2312.47million as against USD 6410.87million during April 2019.
During the last completed fiscal (2019-20), engineering exports had recorded a drop of 5.87 percent to USD 76.21billion, over the previous fiscal’s record high shipment of USD 81 billion.
The share of engineering exports in India’s total merchandise exports during April 2020 declined to 22.33 percent as against 24.6 percent in March 2020 and 24.1 percent in February 2020. This share during April-March 2019-20 stood at 24.3 percent.
All the 33 engineering panels recorded negative growth in exports in April 2020 compared to April 2019.
Out of India’s top 25 export destinations for engineering products, only shipments to Singapore and China recorded higher exports in April 2020 over the same month last fiscal. Exports to the rest 23 countries recorded year-on-year decline.
Singapore replaced USA to become the topmost destination for Indian engineering exports during the month concerned.
India’s engineering imports were down by 52.6 % in April 2020
Analysis of Indian engineering exports and imports for April 2020
India’s Engineering imports during April 2020 were valued at US$ 3858.97 million compared to US$ 8143.84 million in April 2019 recording a significant negative growth of 52.6 percent in dollar terms. The share of engineering imports in India’s total merchandise imports during April 2020 has been estimated at 22.5%.
*This information is sourced from the report titled “Analysis of Indian engineering exports and imports for April 2020” dated 30th May 2020 by the EEPC. This Article was initially published in June, 2020.
