March Imports Pick up 21% Over Feb, Rupee Rises

Signs of Demand Recovery?

A. Exports (including re-exports)

Exports during March, 2014 were valued at US $ 29578.43 million (Rs.180469.82 crore) which was 3.15 per cent lower in Dollar terms (8.61 per cent higher in Rupee terms) than the level of US $ 30541.44 million (Rs. 166159.46 crore) during March, 2013. Cumulative value of exports for the period April-March 2013 -14 was US $ 312355.45 million (Rs 1892892.23 crore) as against US $ 300400.69 million (Rs 1634318.84 crore) registering a growth of 3.98 per cent in Dollar terms and growth of 15.82 per cent in Rupee terms over the same period last year.

B. Imports

Imports during March, 2014 were valued at US $ 40085.76 million (Rs.244579.27 crore) representing a negative growth of 2.11 per cent in Dollar terms and growth of 9.79 per cent in Rupee terms over the level of imports valued at US $ 40947.77 million (Rs. 222774.70 crore) in March, 2013. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-March, 2013-14 was US $ 450949.04 million (Rs. 2719206.15 crore) as against US $ 490736.66 million (Rs. 2669161.96 crore) registering a negative growth of 8.11 per cent in Dollar terms and growth of 1.87 per cent in Rupee terms over the same period last year.

C. Crude Oil and Non-Oil Imports

Oil imports during March, 2014 were valued at US $ 15783.8 million which was 17.7 per cent higher than oil imports valued at US $ 13408.2 million in the corresponding period last year. Oil imports during April-March, 2013-14 were valued at US $ 167624.6 million which was 2.2 per cent higher than the oil imports of US $ 164040.6 million in the corresponding period last year.

Non-oil imports during March, 2014 were estimated at US $ 24302.0 million which was 11.8 per cent lower than non-oil imports of US $ 27539.5 million in March, 2013. Non-oil imports during April-March, 2013-14 were valued at US $ 283324.4 million which was 13.3 per cent lower than the level of such imports valued at US $ 326696.1 million in April-March, 2012-13.

D. Trade Balance

The trade deficit for April-March, 2013-14 was estimated at US $ 138593.59 million which was lower than the deficit of US $ 190335.97 million during April-March, 2012-13.

Three Months Trend in Trade

US $ mn
	Import	Export
March 2014	40085	29578
February 2014	33819	25688
January 2014	36665	26752