January 2011 trade snippets

India’s exports continued their strong run in January rising 32.5% to $20.6 billion on the back of robust showing by the engineering, gems and jewellery and cotton yarn sectors, provisional data released by the government showed . Commerce secretary Rahul Khullar said imports in January 2011 stood at $28.6 billion. In the April to January period, exports rose 29.4% to $184.6 billion while imports grew 17.6% to $273.6 billion. The trade deficit during April-January stood at $89 billion. Khullar said the import figures for January are only rough estimates and the final figure is likely to change. Balance of trade for January was $8 billion. The commerce secretary said the export performance has been good and it is expected to cross $200 billion in February 2011. During April 2010-January 2011, the sectors which recorded a strong showing included engineering ($45 billion); gems & jewellery ($24.5 billion); petroleum & oil products ($30 billion); cotton yarn & made-ups ($4.7 billion); electronics ($6.4 billion) and plastics & linoleum ($3.7 billion). Khullar said exports of rice, iron ore and vegetables showed a decline because of ban on exports. Exports rose 36.4% in December to $22.5 billion. During April to December, exports rose 29.5% to $164.71 billion, while imports stood at $246.72 billion, rising 19% from the same year-ago period.