Exports dip 15% in February, inflation, industrial production up

New Delhi

In a sharp decline, India’s exports contracted last month by over 15 per cent to USD 21.54 billion, while imports also fell by as much leaving a lower trade deficit of USD 6.84 billion.

With imports slowing down, mainly on account of lower crude oil prices, the trade deficit declined to USD 6.84 billion. The deficit, which reflects higher imports than exports, was USD 8.32 billion in January.

The merchandise exports were USD 25.35 billion in February 2014, according to the Commerce Ministry data released today.

Cumulative value of exports during April-February 2014-15 was USD 286.58 billion, as against USD 284.07 billion, up 0.88 per cent, over the same period last year.

Imports during February were valued at USD 28.39 billion, while it was USD 33.66 billion in the year-ago month, down 15.65 per cent.

“The trade deficit for April-February, 2014-15 was estimated at USD 125.22 billion which was higher than the deficit of USD 124.84 billion during April-February, 2013-14,” the ministry said.

Oil imports during February were valued at USD 6.101 billion, 55.49 per cent lower than USD 13.706 billion in the year-ago period. Oil imports during April-February, 2014-15 totalled USD 130.84 billion, down 12.24 per cent year-on-year.

The Commerce Ministry data further said that services exports (receipts) during January, were valued at USD 14.250 billion and imports (payments) totalled USD 7.78 billion, leaving a trade surplus (net exports) of USD 6.46 billion in January.

February retail inflation edges up to 5.37% on costlier food items

The retail inflation rose to 5.37 per cent in February on higher prices of food items, including vegetables and beverages.

The consumer price based retail inflation (consumer price index or CPI) for February is calculated with a new base year of 2012.

For January, the retail inflation with a new base year has been revised upwards to 5.19 per cent from 5.11 per cent estimated earlier.

The CPI in February last year was 7.88 per cent.

Food inflation during the month under review rose to 6.79 per cent from 6.06 per cent in January. The rise in inflation in food items was mainly due to costlier vegetables, pulses and beverages.

The rate of price rise in vegetables went up by 13.01 per cent; in pulses and products by 10.61 per cent, while the same in the food & beverages category rates moved up by 6.76 per cent.

Inflation in fruits was 8.93 per cent.

For rural segment, retail inflation was 5.79 per cent in February 2015 and that for urban centres 4.95 per cent.

Industrial production grew 2.6% cent in January

Industrial production grew 2.6 per cent in January mainly on account of improvement in manufacturing activity and better offtake of capital goods.

The growth in factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was 1.1 per cent in January 2014.

For the April-January period of 2014-15, IIP grew 2.5 per cent as against a meagre rise of 0.1 per cent in same period of the last fiscal as per the data released by Central Statistics Office (CSO) Thursday.

Meanwhile, the December IIP has been revised upwards to 3.23 per cent from the provisional estimates of 1.7 per cent released last month.

As per government data released Thursday, manufacturing output, which constitutes over 75 per cent to the index, grew by 3.3 per cent in January compared to a meagre growth of 0.3 per cent in the same month a year ago.

For April-January period, the sector saw an output growth of 1.7 per cent, compared to a contraction of 0.3 per cent in the year-ago period.

The production of capital goods, a barometer of demand, grew by 12.8 per cent in January as against a contraction of 3.9 per cent in same month of last year.

During the April-January period, capital goods output grew by 5.7 per cent as against a dip of 0.8 per cent.

Fourteen out of the 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during the month of January year-on-year. .

According to the IIP data, the power generation grew by 2.7 per cent in January compared to 6.5 per cent in the same month last year.

During April-January period, electricity production grew by 9.3 per cent compared to a growth of 5.7 per cent in the corresponding period last fiscal.

However the output in the mining sector contracted by 2.8 per cent in January, compared to a growth of 2.7 per cent in the same month last year. During April-January period, output has grown by 1.3 per cent compared to a contraction of 1.1 per cent year-on-year.

The overall consumer goods output has declined by 1.9 per cent in January compared to a dip of 0.5 per cent in the same month last year. During April-January, the output of these goods contracted by 4.7 per cent compared to a dip of 2.7 per cent in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Similarly, consumer durables output also contracted by 5.3 per cent compared to a decline in production by 8.3 per cent in the same month last year. In April-January the output declined by 14.2 per cent compared to a dip of 12.5 per cent in the same period last fiscal.

The consumer non-durable production also contracted by 0.1 per cent in January compared to a growth of 4.5 per cent in same month last year. During April-January the output grew by 1.9 per cent compared to a growth of 5.7 per cent.

The intermediate goods also saw decline in production by 0.8 per cent in January compared to a growth of 4.3 per cent in same month last year.

However the basic goods output grew by 4.5 per cent in January compared a growth of 2.8 per cent in same month last year.

Some of the important items showing high positive growth during January over the same month in previous year include Polythene bags, Woollen Carpets, Conductor Aluminium, Stainless/alloy steel, Gems and Jewellery, Plastic Machinery including Moulding Machinery, PVC Pipes and Tubes, Cable, Rubber Insulated, Carbon Steel, Rice, Air Conditioner (Room) and Boilers.

Some of the other important items showing high negative growth are: Electric Sheets, Telephone Instruments (including Mobile Phones & Accessories), Heat Exchangers, Ship Building & Repairs, Tractors, Computers, Steel Structures, Generator/ Alternator, Wood Furniture and Colour TV Sets.

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