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29 March 2024

UAE non-oil trade soars a quarter

Published
By WAM

UAE non-oil foreign trade has risen for Q1 2011 compared to the same quarter of the last year.

Federal Customs Authority (FCA) preliminary statistics showed that UAE non-oil foreign trade has grown for the said period by 25 per cent compared to the same period of the last year as total non-oil foreign trade has grown from Dh237.5bn during Q1 2010 to Dh297.3bn in Q1 2011, an increase of Dh59.8bn.

In a press release issued today, FCA said that preliminary statistics for Q1 2011 show a 21.6 per cent growth in imports to increase from Dh155.9bn during Q1 2010 to Dh189.6bn for the same quarter in 2011. On the other hand, exports witnessed an astounding growth by 23.7 per cent for the same period with an increase from Dh23.7bn to Dh34.7bn. Re-exports, however, experienced a growth rate of 25.9 per cent to go up from Dh58bn to Dh73bn for the same period.

According to FCA, growth rates in non-oil foreign trade during Q1 2011, compared to Q1 2010 confirm the national economy's course of recovery and restoration of the pre-world financial crisis growth rates. Statistics also feature skyrocketing growth rates in exports and re-exports; facts reflecting positive trends of the national economy in terms or productivity, exports, re-exports and higher competitiveness for national products in global markets.

For FCA, in terms of value, UAE total foreign trade in April, 2011 valued YoY Dh68.9bn compared to Dh58.9 with an increase of 17 per cent. April Imports, in turn, hit YoY Dh42.9bn with an increase of 11 per cent. Exports achieved YoY Dh10.3bn with an increase of 59 per cent. Yet, re-exports recorded a YoY increase of 14 per cent to hit Dh15.8bn.

However, weight-wise UAE total foreign trade in April, 2011 has hit 6.1 m tons, of which 3.7 m tons in imports, 1.7 m tons in exports and 652 thousand tons in re-exports. Accordingly, daily average of consignments and shipments, in exports and imports and re-exports, handled at various custom ports reached 25 thousand tons against an official daily man-hours of 8 hours / 5 days a week, with an average of 3 thousand tons / hour.

According to the FCA press release, each of India, China, the US, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the UK and Switzerland, respectively, topped exporters' list to the UAE in April, 2011 with a total value of Dh25.4bn, or 59 per cent of the UAE total imports. On the level of non-oil exports, India, Canada, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Qatar, Oman, respectively, spearheaded importers from the UAE with Dh8.3bn, accounting for 80 per cent of the UAE exports. Meanwhile, India, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Belgium, Bahrain and Oman topped the list in terms of re-exports with Dh11bn, representing 70 per cent of the UAE total re-exports.

The total value of UAE-GCC non-oil foreign trade hit Dh5.4bn in April, 2011, of which Dh2.3bn in imports, Dh1.2bn in exports and Dh2bn in re-exports. Saudi Arabia maintained its first rank among GCC region's trading partners with a total value of Dh2.5bn in April, 2011. Kuwait came second with Dh946 m, followed by Oman (Dh791 m), Bahrain (Dh648 m) and finally Qatar (Dh563m).

Further, FCA press release read, "UAE total foreign trade with Arab countries in terms of value amounted to Dh9.4bn in April, 2011, with Dh4.1bn worth of imports, Dh1.8bn worth of exports and Dh3.5bn of re-exports. Saudi Arabia topped the list of Arab states in terms of non-oil trade with the UAE, followed by Sudan, Oman, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Morocco, Lebanon, Yemen, and Algeria. Djibouti and Comoros tailed the list." The preliminary statistical data of April, 2011 showed that gold ranked first among imports with a value of Dh6.7bn, followed by diamond with Dh4.1bn, ornaments and jewelry with Dh2.2bn, cars with Dh1.9bn, telephone sets Dh930 m, jet, propelling and gas vehicles with Dh668m, silver with Dh635m, in addition to spare parts and accessories of tractors, vehicles for special uses, passenger vehicles and goods vehicles (Dh591m).

Gold, according to FCA, also came first among exports in April, 2011 with Dh4.3bn, followed by fire-fighting, guiding and other ships with Dh2.6 m, petroleum oils and other derivatives with Dh243 m, sugar cane or red beet and chemically purified sucrose with Dh146m, copper cables with Dh126 m, ethylene polymers with Dh119 m, then ornaments and jewelry and related parts with Dh119 m. On the level of re-exports, diamond came first with a total value of Dh4.1bn, ornaments and jewelry and related parts with Dh1.3bn, followed by cars (Dh1.2bn), telephone sets (Dh787m). The total trade volume of UAE free zones and markets in March, 2011 amounted to Dh1.2bn.