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At $14.8b, exports to Singapore rise 86.8% |
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India’s exports to Singapore have shot up by 86.8 per cent in the first 10 months of 2011-12 at $14.8 billion vis-à-vis $7.9 billion during April-January 2010-11. In fact, exports during April-January 2011-12 have already surpassed last full year exports of $10.3 billion, with data for February and March of the last financial yet to come in.
Not just this, with the surge in exports Singapore has once again become the fourth largest export destination from India, behind UAE, US and China. In the preceding two year (2009-10 and 2010-11), Singapore had lost this position to Hong Kong. Even the percentage share of India’s export to Singapore has gone up to 6.1 per cent in 2011-12 from 4.1 per cent in the preceding year.
A huge part of this is due to export of petroleum products from Reliance Industries to its warehouse in Singapore. Though the volume of its export has itself nearly doubled from 2.6 million tonne in 2010-11 to 5.02 million tonne in 2011-12, nearly 40 per cent increase in oil prices have also added to exports from India. International crude prices went averaging $111 per barrel in 2011 as against $80 per barrel in 2010, an increase of 38.75 per cent. Besides, the increasing demand of components from India for electronic goods made in Singapore is further adding to India’s overall merchandise exports.
According to data available with the commerce ministry, the most exported commodity from India to Singapore includes petroleum products at $8.2 billion (mineral fuels, oils and products of their distil-lation, bituminous substances and mineral waxes), transport equipments ($3.6 billion), machinery and instruments ($0.53 billion), gems and jewellery ($0.48 billion) and electronic goods ($0.39 billion).
“We have three warehouse centers across the globe for oil and Singapore is one of them. However, almost whole of the petroleum product exported to Singapore is further shipped to other destinations like Australia and there is negligible domestic consumption. Last year we had good volume of diesel export to Singapore and that too at higher prices than the preceding year,” a senior official of Reliance Industries told Financial Chronicle.
Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisation, feels that the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) signed between the two countries in 2005 have opened up some opportunities for electronic parts and machinery from India to Singapore.
“India’s exports to Singapore has been gradually increasing ever since we signed the comprehensive agreement for trade in goods, services and investment agreement with them and products like transport equipments, machinery, gems and jewellery and electronics are playing an important role,” he added.
It is to be noted that electronic goods, which were earlier not part of the top 10 exported items from India to Singapore prior to the CEPA, have now figured prominently in the list with total exports worth 0.39 billion in 2011-12. Likewise, export of machinery and
instruments from India to Singapore has more than doubled from 0.2 billion in 2006-07 to $0.5 billion in 2011-12.
Source : mydigitalfc.com
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