According to Maersk report the containerized growth in India for the previous quarter has been flat. Steve Felder, MD, Maersk South Asia said the growth in the July-September quarter was low. “We have seen imports grow slightly above 4 percent but that has been eroded by the contraction of 4 percent in exports.”
“For the first time in recent memory we have seen the Indian containerized growth actually grow slower than the global trade growth. So that is a sign that we have not seen for quite some time,” he added.
Stating the causes for this low growth, he said, first is global softening in the economy and India is not insulated from that, second is tight liquidity and working capital, and third is weakening domestic demand.
Speaking about import and exports regionally, he said, “Largely it could be because of commodity mix in different markets. North India has been the lowest performer in this quarter contracting at 8 percent on exports, whereas West India has been flat, and the East Coast has also contracted slightly."
However, imports have growth. "On the East Coast of India; South India is 12 percent up, East India 8 percent up, whereas the West India region has been negative 1 percent and North India plus 4 percent. So, it is a mixed bag and I think largely it is about what are the commodity mixes.”
“We have seen very low growth in the retail apparel market and textile market. We have also seen a contraction in onion exports of 26 percent as exports have been banned in an effort to curb the rise in domestic onion prices. We have seen some growth in seafood which has helped some of the numbers in West Coast of India and we have also seen some relief for the automotive sector where demand in African markets has been very robust for Indian made vehicles,” he added.
Source :- Cnbctv18.com