Exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals (12.7% on-year in March vs 22.2% in February), engineering goods (10.7 % vs 15.9%), organic and inorganic chemicals (39.7% vs 33%) and readymade garments (1.7% v 4.9%) presented a mixed bag, while petroleum products (-35.4% v 5.1%) dropped. Meanwhile, exports of gems and jewellery (-4.6% v -11.3%) continued to be in the red
Exports of labour-intensive sectors such as cotton, yarn, fabrics, made-ups, handloom products and others (6.8% vs 17.1%) remained in the expansionary zone and handicrafts (128.4% v 87%) improved further on-month. Carpets (16.2% vs 14.6%), ceramic products and glassware (0.2% vs 9.8%), plastic and linoleum (11.2% vs 22.1%) and readymade garments (1.7% vs 4.9%) also exhibited positive growth
March recorded slower sequential growth in agricultural exports. Growth in fruits and vegetables (2.9% vs 12.7%) and tobacco (35.8% vs 58.2%) decelerated. Exports of cashew (-11.7 vs -13.6%), oil meals (-45.2% vs -24.6%), oil seeds (-23.3% vs 37.7%) and rice (-2.9% vs 1.8%) remained in the red
Oil imports turned negative, growing -4.4% on-year to $17.23 billion this March from $18.02 billion in March last year
Imports of gold plunged 53.6% on-year in March, to hit the lowest level since January 2023. Imports of silver continued to increase on-year (1058.8% vs 13234.4%), while those of pearls, precious and semi-precious stones continued to decline (-17.7% vs -13.4%)
Core imports (non-oil and non-gold) fell 3.6% on-year compared with 5.2% growth in February
Import growth of industrial4 products such as machine tools (13.4% vs 24.9%) was positive. Coal, coke and briquettes (-6.6% vs 2.1%) and iron and steel (-10.1% vs 9.5%) saw negative on-month growth
