-
Declining shipments of petroleum products hurting India’s overall export figures
A substantial decline in shipments of petroleum products is one of the key reasons behind the moderating exports globally, including in India which exports refined products to various countries.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal agreed that export was a “huge challenge”.
“Look at global trade data, there has been a decline of imports by many countries, almost by 5 per cent to 6 per cent negative growth. It shows that there is a slowdown in China. There is still recession fears, which is persisting in Europe and the US.”
“There are a lot of challenges in trade, but I’m very happy to see in terms of figures, so far, in cumulative terms, we have been able to manage our exports in the positive territory,” the secretary told reporters on Tuesday.
India’s petroleum exports have plummeted by a staggering 37.56 per cent, dropping from USD 9.54 billion in August 2023 to just USD 5.95 billion in August 2024.
This dramatic decline has significantly impacted India’s overall merchandise trade, leading to a 9.33 per cent reduction in August 2024 compared to the previous year.
Over the past month, international crude oil prices have slipped by over USD 10 per barrel to about USD 70 per barrel, due to subdued demand.
Ajay Srivastava, the founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) in an interesting anecdote noted that crude oil prices remained relatively stable between these two periods, suggesting that the drop in petroleum product exports is linked to ongoing disruptions in the Red Sea.
Share This
