India's merchandise exports fell nearly 35 per cent to $21.41 billion last month, marking the steepest monthly decline since 1991, official data showed on Wednesday. Merchandise exports had stood at $32.72 billion in March 2019. The trade data comes days after the government extended a 21-day countrywide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has hurt the financial markets and business globally.
The government said the decline in exports is "mainly due to the ongoing global slowdown, which got aggravated due to the current COVID-19 crisis", and led to "large scale disruptions in supply chains and demand resulting in cancellation of orders".
In rupee terms, the exports declined 29.98 per cent to 1.59 lakh crore last month. While the exports of all commodity groups contracted in March compared to the year-ago period, iron ore orders rose 58.43 per cent.
Some commodities that have recorded negative export growth in March 2020 (vs March 2019) are oil meals (-69.85 per cent), meat, dairy & poultry products (-45.48 per cent), engineering goods (-42.32 per cent), Gems & jewellery (-41.05 per cent), minerals, including processed minerals (-34.06 per cent), tea (-33.74 per cent), petroleum products (-31.12 per cent) and rice (-28.28 per cent).
Imports also dropped 28.72 per cent to $31.16 billion (around Rs 2.32 lakh crore) last month. In rupee terms, the imports shrank 23.72 per cent lower.
Some commodities that have recorded negative import growth in March 2020 (vs March 2019) are pearls, precious and semi-precious stones (-53.46 per cent), machinery, electrical and non-electrical (-31.72 per cent), electronic goods (-29.09 per cent), coal, coke and briquettes, etc. (-23.54 per cent) and petroleum, crude and products (-15 per cent).
