UAE's non-oil trade up 23%

The UAE's non-oil foreign trade was on the go for the first seven months of 2011 compared to the same period of the previous year.

Preliminary statistics released by the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) show UAE non-oil foreign trade grew for the said period by 23 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year as total non-oil foreign trade has grown from Dh426 billion during the first seven months of 2010 to Dh524bn  in the same period of 2011, i.e., an increase of Dh98bn.

The preliminary statistics for the first 7 months of 2011 show a 22 per cent growth in imports to increase from Dh276.3bn during the first seven months of 2010 to Dh337.1bn for the same period in 2011, FCA said in an emailed press release.

On the other hand, exports witnessed an astounding growth by 45 per cent for the same period with an increase from AED 44.5 billion to Dh64.7bn. Re-exports, however, experienced a growth rate of 16% to go up from Dh105.2bn to Dh122.1bn for the same period.

For FCA, in terms of value, UAE total foreign trade in July, 2011 valued YoY Dh79bn compared to Dh52.1 with an increase of 28 per cent. July imports, in turn, hit YoY Dh52.1bn with an increase of 31 per cent. Exports achieved YoY Dh10bn with an increase of 51 per cent. Yet, re-exports recorded a YoY increase of 10 per cent to hit Dh16.9bn.

However, weight-wise UAE total foreign trade in July, 2011 has hit 7.2 million tonnes, of which 4.6m tonnes in imports, 1.9 m tonnes in exports and 691 thousand tonnes in re-exports.

The total value of UAE-GCC non-oil foreign trade hit Dh5.2bn in July, 2011, of which Dh2.4bn in imports, Dh1bn in exports and Dh1.8bn in re-exports.

Saudi Arabia maintained its first rank among GCC's trading partners with a total value of Dh2.4bn in July, 2011. Kuwait came second with Dh795m,followed by Bahrain (Dh780m), Oman (Dh653m) and finally Qatar (Dh595m).

"UAE total foreign trade with Arab countries in terms of value amounted to Dh10.4bn in July, 2011, with Dh5.5bn worth of imports, Dh1.6bn worth of exports and Dh3.2bn of re-exports. Saudi Arabia topped the list of Arab states in terms of non-oil trade with the UAE, followed by Morocco, Sudan, Iraq, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, and Comoros tailed the list," FCA further said.

The preliminary statistical data of July, 2011 showed that gold ranked first among imports with a value of Dh9.3bn, followed by diamond with Dh4.1bn, ornaments and jewellery with Dh2.2bn, cars with Dh2.1bn, and telephone sets Dh738m.

Gold also came first among exports in July, 2011 with Dh5.9bn, followed by petroleum oils and other derivatives with Dh262m, and ornaments and jewellery with Dh190m.

On the level of re-exports, diamond came first with a total value of Dh4.6bn, ornaments and jewellery and related parts with Dh1.4bn, telephone sets (Dh863m), and cars (Dh789m).

The total trade volume of UAE free zones and markets in July, 2011 amounted to Dh1.4bn.

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