UAE Non-oil Trade Hits AED 759.8 bln

UAE non-oil foreign trade in the first 10 months of 2011 surged to AED 759.8 bln showing an increase of AED 137.3 bln in comparison to the same period in 2010. Federal Customs Authority (FCA) initial statistical data indicates a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 22 percent in UAE's non-oil foreign trade from January to the end of October, 2011.The data for the first 10 months of 2011 indicate a non-oil foreign trade increase from AED 622.5 bln in 2010 to AED 759.8 bln in 2011 showing a growth of AED 137.3 bln.

Data on import growth reveals a 24 percent increase, thus moving from AED 399.2 bln in 2010 to AED 493.8 bln in 2011 for same period.According to FCA, "Exports witnessed a growth rate hitting 34 percent during the period in question due to a value increase from AED 70.2 bln to AED 93.9 bln. Re-exports, however, experienced a growth rate of 12 percent to go up from AED 153 bln to AED 172.1 bln for the same period." For FCA, in terms of value, UAE total foreign trade in October alone, 2011, valued YoY AED 83.5 bln compared to AED 66.4 bln with an increase of 26 percent . October Imports, in turn, hit YoY AED 57.1 bln with an increase of 36 percent . Exports achieved YoY AED 9.8 bln with an increase of 15 percent . Yet, re-exports recorded a YoY decrease of 5 percent to hit AED 16.6 bln.However, weight-wise UAE total foreign trade in October, 2011 has hit 7.5 m tons, of which 4.3 m tons in imports, 2.5 m tons in exports and 727 thousand tone in re-exports.

According to the FCA India, USA, China, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Switzerland, and South Korea, respectively, topped exporters' list in October, 2011 with a total value of AED 36.1 bln, or 63 percent of the UAE total imports. "On the level of non-oil exports, India, Iran, Singapore, Turkey, Thailand, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Qatar, respectively, spearheaded importers from the UAE with AED 6.6 bln, accounting for 67 percent of the UAE exports".

The FCA added. "Meanwhile, Iran, India, Belgium, Iraq, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Oman, respectively, topped the list in terms of re-exports with AED 11.4 bln, representing 69 percent of the UAE total re-exports." The total value of UAE-GCC non-oil foreign trade hit AED 6.1 bln in October, 2011, of which AED 3 bln in imports, AED 1.1 bln in exports and AED 2 bln in re-exports.

Saudi Arabia maintained its first rank among GCC region's trading partners with a total value of AED 2.3 bln. Kuwait came second with AED 1.5 bln, followed by Bahrain (AED 860 m), Oman (AED 831 m) and finally Qatar (AED 621 m).Further, FCA press release read, "UAE total foreign trade with Arab countries in terms of value amounted to AED 11.2 bln in October, 2011, with AED 5.5 bln worth of imports, AED 2 bln worth of exports and AED 3.6 bln of re-exports.

The preliminary statistical data of October, 2011, showed that gold ranked first among imports with a value of AED 9.7 bln, followed by other aircraft with AED 3.9 bln, diamond with AED 3.5 bln, cars with AED 2.9 bln, ornaments and jewelry with AED 2.4 bln. Gold, according to FCA, also came first among exports in October, 2011, with AED 5.4 bln, followed by petroleum oils and other derivatives with AED 318 m, ethylene polymers with AED 310 m, then ornaments and jewelry and related parts with AED 238 m. On the level of re-exports, diamond came first with a total value of AED 3.4 bln, followed by ornaments and jewelry and related parts (AED 1.7 bln), cars (AED 1.2 bln), telephone sets (AED 879 m).The total trade volume of UAE free zones and markets in October, 2011, amounted to AED 1.7 bln.