Exports to US on upward swing

There has been no impact of the US' economic downturn on exports. Data
released by the US Department of Commerce shows that exports during
January-October 2010 had touched $25
billion, the same as in the 10-month period of 2008.

In 2009, exports of goods and services were worth $21 billion ($17
billion in the first 10 months).
Textiles and apparel did well, exports of which touched $2.7 billion,
an increase of 20 per cent, according to Mr Vijay Mathur, Deputy
Secretary-General, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC).

However, exports to other countries declined, including Europe.

Handicrafts exports up by 48 % in November

Handicrafts exports grew by a robust 48 per cent year-on-year to fetch
$66 million in November 2010, following increasing demand from the US
and European Union markets.
According to data provided by the Export Promotion Council for
Handicrafts (EPCH),
handicrafts exports stood at $44.81 million in November 2009.

Among the items which saw maximum export growth were imitation
jewellery (up by 79.85 per cent), woodware (up by 78.05 per cent) and
shawls as artware (up by 51.94 per cent), the EPCH Executive Director,
Mr Rakesh Kumar, said : Following the increased demand, the Union
government revised the exports target upwards to $2.5 billion from
$2.2 billion for the current fiscal.

According to EPCH, during April-November 2010, exports went up by 25
per cent to $1.13 billion from $912 million in the corresponding
period of 2009-10.

The US and the European Union together account for 70 per cent of the
handicrafts exports.

Tea exports dip by 26 % in November.

Tea exports fell by 26 per cent to 15.4 million kg in November 2010,
according to the Tea Board. The total shipments during the
corresponding month of 2009 was 20.74 million kg.
In terms of value, exports earned Rs 216.7 crore during November,
compared to Rs 304.6 crore in November 2009, the Board said.

During January-November 2010, tea exports remained almost stable at
178.5 million kg, as against 178.4 million kg in the same period of
2009.

However, in terms of value, the shipments registered a decline of 5.2
per cent to yield Rs 2,379.4 crore in the first 11 months of 2010, as
against Rs 2,511.1 crore during the corresponding period of 2009.

Exports surge by 36.4 % in December and touched 33-month high

Merchandise exports increased by a robust 36.4 per cent in December
2010 to yield $ 22.5 billion, the highest in 33 months, the
provisional data released by the Commerce Ministry showed.

The increase was aided by the capture of newer markets and increased
demand from the US and the European Union.

Imports in December declined by 11.1 per cent to $25.1 billion, the
lowest in the last 14 months.

This led the trade deficit to fall to $2.6 billion, the lowest in the
last three years.
Exports during April-December 2010 recorded a 29.5 per cent growth to
$ 164.7 billion.
The Commerce Secretary, Dr Rahul Khullar, said that if the trend
continues, exports in 2010-11 would touch a record $215-225 billion.

Imports during April-December grew by 19 per cent to $ 247.1 billion,
leading to a trade deficit of only $ 82.4 billion in the same period.
Due to the exports surge, trade deficit for the fiscal would be just
about $118-120 billion, down from the earlier estimate of $135
billion, Dr Khullar explained.

He elaborated that even with an adverse pressure on oil prices, the
current account deficit would be less than 3.5 per cent of the GDP.

He attributed the reasons for the good showing to market
diversification, better demand in the US and Europe, goodwill for
Indian exporters abroad, competitive pricing of items following the
grant of incentives, better marketing of even items such as carpets
saying they are free from child labour and being in the right markets
that were growing at the right time with better prices.

Export of pulses banned

The Union government has extended the ban on export of pulses, the
Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, said.

The move followed the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on food,
headed by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, reviewing the
price situation in the country and deciding to
allow duty-free import of pulses until March 2012.

India is the world's biggest producer and consumer of pulses.
The government had in June 2006 banned exports of pulses, which had a
weight of 0.72 per
cent in the wholesale price index.

Food price index rose by 12.13 per cent till December 11 this year,
government data showed.
The government has also decided to extend the imports of duty-free
pulses "until further orders".
The annual pulses consumption is estimated at over 18 million tonnes,
while production in 2009-10 was at 14.6 million tonnes, leading to
imports.

Spices exports earn 15 pc more in value during April-November

Exports of spices during April-November 2010-11 increased by 6 per
cent in volume terms and 15 per cent in rupee value when compared to
the same period of 2009-10. In dollar terms, the rise was around 20
per cent, the Spices Board data showed.
And there was increased demand from abroad for chilli and turmeric in
November, helping the overall spices exports to maintain the good
momentum seen in the previous month.
In April-November, a total of 361,650 tonnes of spices and spice
products, valued at Rs 4,320.88 crore ($ 946.23 million), were
exported, as against 3,41,950 tonnes valued at Rs 3,770.10 crore ($
785.29 million) during the same period of 2009.

In 2009-10, a total of 5,02,750 tonnes of spices and its products,
valued at Rs 5,560.50 crore ($ 1,173.75 billion), were exported.

In the current financial year, exports of chilli, ginger, fennel and
garlic have shown an increase both in volume and value terms as
compared to April-November 2009. Exports of value-added products,
spice oils and oleoresin have also risen as compared to April-November
2009.

However, in the case of cardamom, turmeric, fenugreek and mint
products, the increase was in terms of value only. Pepper exports were
down by 17 per cent in volume for the eight-month period and only 4
per cent lower in value terms.
In April-November 2010, a total quantity of 11,500 tonnes of pepper,
valued at Rs 208.50 crore, was exported, as against 13,850 tonnes
valued at Rs 217.70 crore last year. The unit value of pepper has
increased from Rs 157.18 per kg in 2009-10 to Rs 181.30 per kg during
2010-11.

Chilli exports were up by 26 per cent in volume and 22 per cent in
value. During the period, a total quantity of 1,66,000 tonnes of
chilli, valued at Rs 1,020 crore, have been exported, as against
1,31,250 tonnes valued at Rs 835.03 crore during the same period of
2009. Turmeric exports rose to 500 tonnes in November when compared to
November 2009.

In April-November 2010, around 7,250 tonnes of ginger, valued at Rs
44.04 crore, was exported, as against 3,500 tonnes valued at Rs 27.13
crore last year. During the same period, exports of spice oils and
oleoresins also increased to 4,650 tonnes, valued at Rs 570.90 crore.

Govt clears export of 5 lakh tonnes sugar under OGL

The Union government has prepared the modalities for export of
5,00,000 tonnes of sugar by mills under open general licence (OGL) in
the current crop year that began in October
Accordingly, each mill will get to export 2.5 per cent of its annual
average production during the last three years. If a mill has not been
operational for the last three years, then its annual average
production of last two years or one year will be taken into account.
If the mill does not have capacity to fulfil its export obligation,
then it can sell its export release order (permission from the
government to export a certain quantity) to any other mill or to a
private trader.

The Food and Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, assured that his
department would soon work out the export modalities.

The government had earlier allowed the export of about 1.5 million
tonnes of sugar through the Advance Licence Scheme (ALS) and also the
imported sugar stocks that were stuck at ports.
Under ALS, mills have to fulfill their export obligation of about one
million tonnes of the sweetener by March 2011 against the duty-free
imports during 2004-2009 period.