UAE non-oil foreign trade in first half of this year reaches Dh 499 billion, says FCA

Abu Dhabi, Oct 18, 2012 (WAM) - The UAE non-oil foreign trade showed higher growth rate in the first half of this year, as it reached 10.5% compared to the same period in the last year. The FCA initial statistics showed that the total non-oil foreign trade rose by Dh 47.4 billion to Dh 499 billion in the first half of this year compared to Dh 451.5 billion in the same period of last year. Exports achieved a significant growth by 40% in the first half of this year, the FCA said in a press release yesterday. The UAE non-oil exports increased by Dh 22 billion to hit Dh 77 billion compared to Dh 55 billion in the same period of the last year. The imports grew within the above period by 12%, raising the UAE non-oil imports by Dh 35.1 from Dh 286.3 billion to 321.4 billion in the period of comparison, while re-exports hit Dh 100.5 billion in the same period. The FCA initial statistics showed an upward trend for exports which maintained positive growth rates ranging between 30% and 40%, during the first half of this year. This reflects the impressive growth seen in the national industry in different sectors, and the positive impacts of the policy of stimulus and encouragement of the national investments followed by the good leadership. Imports experienced parallel and modest growth rates in the last period ranging between 6% and 10% only. In terms of weight, the UAE total foreign trade hit about 58.4 million tons in the first half of this year, including 27.9 million tons in imports, 25.1 million tons in exports and 5.4 million tons in re-exports. The daily average weight of consignments (exported, imported and re-exported) processed by different customs outlets hit about 243 thousand tons per day (30 thousand tons per hour). "In June alone, the UAE foreign trade hit about Dh 86.5 billion, including Dh 51.7 billion in imports, Dh 16.5 billion in exports and Dh 18.2 billion in re-exports", the FCA added. Asia-Pacific region retained its first place among the UAE top non-oil foreign trade partners with a total trade of Dh 216 billion with the UAE - 44% of the total trade in the first half of this year. "Europe came in the second place with Dh 192.4 billion (26%) of the total trade followed by Middle East and North Africa with Dh 72.6 billion (15%), America and the Caribbean with Dh 44.7 billion (9%), Western and Central Africa region with Dh 14 billion (2.9%) and COMESA with Dh 13 billion (2.7%), the authority said. The total of UAE non-oil foreign trade with the Gulf Council Countries (GCC) hit Dh 46 billion in the first half of this year, including Dh 19.3 billion in imports, Dh 11.8 billion in exports and Dh 14.8 billion in re-exports, the FCA said in the press release. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), kept its top place among the UAE trade partners from the GCC in the above period. The UAE total trade with the KSA reached Dh 15.1 billion (33% of total GCC trade). Oman came in the second place with Dh 10.8 billion (23%) followed by Kuwait with Dh 10.1 billion (22%), Bahrain with Dh 5.2 billion (11%) and finally Qatar with Dh 4.8 billion (10%). The UAE total foreign trade with Arab countries hit about Dh 47.6 billion in the first half of this year, including Dh 34.4 billion in imports; Dh 17.2 billion in exports and Dh 23 billion in re-exports. The initial statistics in this period showed that gold came at the top of the imported goods with Dh 60 billion, followed by diamond with Dh 20.6 billion, jewellery with Dh 19.5 billion, cars with Dh 18.5 billion, and mobile phones with Dh 5 billion. Gold, was the top among exported goods in the period with Dh 41.4 billion, followed by polyethylene and propylene polymers in crude forms with Dh 6.2 billion, jewels and pieces of jewellery with Dh 2.9 billion, raw Aluminium with Dh 2.3 billion and petroleum and other oils with Dh 1.6 billion. Diamond came first in re-exports for this period with Dh 20.9 billion, followed by jewels and pieces of jewellery with Dh 14.9 billion, cars with Dh 8 billion, mobile phones with Dh 6.2 billion, and gold with Dh 1.9 billion. The total trade of markets and free zones, the FCA said, hit about Dh 8 billion for this period, including Dh 3.7 in imports, Dh 665 million in exports, and Dh 3.6 billion in re-exports. – Emirates News Agency, WAM