In April 2024, India’s engineering exports saw a decline of 3.2 per cent to $8.67 billion, with lower shipments of metals, particularly iron, steel, and copper being the main contributing factor. This drop came after a period of steady growth in the sector over the past four months. Notably, shipments of steel decreased in countries like Italy, Nepal, the UAE, the Netherlands, the USA, China, and South Korea. However, exports to the USA actually increased by 1.2 per cent year-on-year to USD 1.41 billion in April. Similarly, exports to Saudi Arabia also saw a significant increase of 48.9 per cent, reaching USD 435.72 million compared to USD 292.72 million in April 2023. Additionally, exports to China went up by 14.8 per cent to USD 210.29 million from USD 183.24 million in the same period last year.
Overall, engineering exports witnessed a growth of 2.61 per cent in April 2024 when excluding iron and steel exports, which experienced a substantial decline of 36.41 per cent. This decline was a major contributor to the overall drop in engineering exports during the month. The decrease in exports was observed across most regions, except for North America, North East Asia, WANA, and the CIS. While some top destinations like the USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore, UK, Mexico, and China saw positive growth in engineering exports in April 2024, others like Germany, Italy, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, Nepal, Brazil, Thailand, France, and Bangladesh experienced negative growth. The high base effect was cited as a reason behind the decline in exports to Russia, which stood at US$118.56 million in April 2024, 9.4 per cent lower than in the same period last year.
In terms of regions, North America and the European Union remained the top destinations for India’s engineering exports, accounting for 21.1 per cent and 18.4 per cent of India’s total engineering exports, respectively. Among various regions, North East Asia showed the highest growth of 24.5 per cent in April 2024 compared to the same period last year. This was followed by the CIS region with a growth of 7.9 per cent, North America with 4.7 per cent growth, and WANA with a growth of 3.1 per cent. Other regions experienced negative growth in engineering exports during this period. Despite facing numerous challenges, India’s total engineering goods exports for the financial year ending in March 2024 saw a slight increase to USD 109.32 billion from USD 107.04 billion in the previous financial year.
