Engineering Goods Sector exceeds April-January Export Target

· US Leads in Demand

[ABS News Service/28.02.2022]

On course to meet FY22 export target of $ 107 billion, engineering goods exports during April-January 2021-22 has been over achieved to the extent of 85.3 percent. Considering the target on a pro-rata basis, the target for April-January was $ 89.4 billion while actual exports was $ 91.5 billion during this period, as per data compiled by EEPC India.

As per the Quick Estimates of Foreign Trade for January 2022 released by the Department of Commerce, Government of India, the share of engineering in total merchandise export was 26.67 percent in January 2022 as against 25.89 percent in December 2021 and 26.89 percent in November 2021.

On a cumulative basis, the share was 27.08 percent during April-January 2021-22.

As many as 32 out of 34 engineering panels witnessed positive year-on-year growth in exports during January 2021. Only `Nickel and its products’ and `Ships, boats and floating structures’ conceded decline in year-on-year exports during January 2022. On a cumulative basis however, all the 34 engineering panels recorded positive growth during April-January 2021-22 over the same period last fiscal.

Exports rose year-on-year in 21 out of 25 top export destinations (country) during January 2022. Four countries that recorded negative growth were Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Malaysia. On a cumulative basis, all the top 25 destinations recorded positive growth during April-January 2021-22 except Malaysia.

The United States remained the top export market for engineering goods both on a monthly as well as cumulative basis.

Export to all the regions grew year-on-year in January 2022 other than Sub-Saharan Africa. In cumulative terms however, an increase in exports was witnessed in all regions during April-January 2021-22 over the same period last fiscal.

"Engineering exports continued to remain at the $ 9 billion mark in January 2022. Of the $ 107 billion target set for engineering exports in FY 2021-22, the industry has already achieved more than 85 percent. Given the fact that exports generally exhibit an upward trend in the last quarter of any financial year, engineering exports are expected to achieve their target within stipulated time," EEPC India Chairman Mr Mahesh Desai said.

India’s performance is a mirror image of the global trade recovery trends. Global trade in 2021 reached a record high figure of $ 28.5 trillion, which is almost 13 percent higher than even the pre-pandemic levels.

As per UNCTAD, developing countries outperformed developed countries in the last quarter of 2021.

Commenting on the possible impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on engineering goods exports, Mr Desai said that such developments certainly affect and if the war continued the desired level of trade with Russia may not reach.

"Russia is the key export destination for engineering items in the CIS region," he said.