India Falls To 9th From 2nd Largest Export Destination.

India fell to Israel's ninth largest export destination in the first half of 2011, after holding second place for many years. Exports to India fell to $580 million in the first half from $820 million in the corresponding half of 2010, the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute reports.

The Export Institute attributes the drop in exports to India to large past deals and the long maturity times for new ones. It says that the drop was temporary and it expects exports to India to rebound in the second half of the year, boosting India's position in the list of export target countries.

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor said that exports to India fell 34% in the second quarter from the preceding quarter. The ministry said that it would conduct a survey among exporters to India to try to find out the reason for the drop.

For many years, Israeli exporters have eyed India as a growing emerging market that could replace other crisis-plagued markets, such as Europe.

According to the Export Institute, the UK took over India's second place position in Israel's export rankings for the first half from the first half of last year. Turkey rose from eighth to third place. The US kept its place as Israel's top export destination by a large margin, but that margin is narrowing. Israeli exports to the US fell 15 times exports to China in 2009 to six times as large in the first half of 2011. China rose to fourth from sixth place in the rankings, following 34% increase in exports, excluding diamonds, to $1 billion in the first half.

Export Institute director Avi Hefetz said, "The change in the export map reflects the growing importance of the Chinese market to Israeli exporters and the influence of pharmaceutical exports on export figures and their geographical breakdown."

Source : globes.co.il