Exports still in low gear, drop 17.5% in October

New Delhi: Contracting for the 11th month in a row, India's merchandise exports fell 17.53 percent in October to $21.35 billion, mainly due to a steep fall in shipments of petroleum products, iron ore and engineering, amid a broader demand slowdown.The imports too shrank an annual 21.15 percent to $31.12 billion in October, narrowing the trade gap to $9.76 billion, from $13.57 billion in the same month last year.[caption id="attachment_2508814" align="alignleft" width="380"] Falling exports. AFP[/caption]Exports in October 2014 were valued at $25.89 billion. Gold imports during the month under review showed a sharp decline of 59.5 percent at $1.70 billion.The cumulative exports during April-October this fiscal came down by 17.62 percent to $154.29 billion as against $187.2 billion in the same period last year, according to data released by the commerce ministry.The trade deficit during the first seven months of the current fiscal has shrunk to $77.76 billion as against $86.26 billion last fiscal. Oil and non-oil imports in October slid 45.31 percent and 9.93 percent to $6.84 billion and $24.2 billion,respectively.On the export front, shipments of petroleum products tumbled 57 percent to $2.46 billion while those of iron ore sharply declined by 85.53 percent to $2.95 million.Engineering products were no exception, shipments of which took a knock of 11.65 percent at $4.57 billion. In September, the country's exports went down 24.33 percent. PTI