UAE Exports Grows 61% to Dhs135.7bn

The UAE non-oil exports show a flat and stable growth, confirming the good reputation of these exports in the global markets, said the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) in a press release. "The value of the UAE non-oil exports rose in the first nine months of 2012 to Dhs135.7bn compared to Dhs84.4bn in the same period of the last year," said the FCA.

The total foreign non-oil trade (minus the free zones trade) in the first nine months of 2012 rose by Dhs99bn to Dhs783.5bn compared to Dhs684.9bn in the same period of the last year, said the FCA.

"The preliminary statistics of the UAE non-oil foreign trade showed that gold has been the major item in the UAE export structure at a top of the major ten exported goods with Dhs79.8bn, followed by ethylene polymers in the basic forms with Dhs5.3bn, jewelry and jewels with Dhs4.9bn, crude aluminum with Dhs3.3bn, propylene polymers in the basic forms with Dhs2.9bn, petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals with Dhs2.4bn," the FCA said.

"The UAE imports achieved the same growth rates as previously recorded," said the FCA. "The imports grew by 13% in the first nine months of the last months, rising by Dhs55bn to Dhs495bn compared to the same period of the last year.

Gold came at the top of the major ten commodities imported in the same period with Dhs106.4bn, followed by diamonds with Dhs29.7bn, cars with Dhs28.1, jewels and pieces of jewelry with Dhs27.2bn, jet and propeller turbines with Dhs10.6bn and phone devices with Dhs8.3bn," the FCA indicated.

The re-exports to the foreign markets, said the FCA, plunged by 5% to Dhs152.7bn compared to Dhs160.6bn in the period of comparison. The diamond came at the top of the major re-exported commodities in the first nine months of 2012 with Dhs26.4bn, followed by jewels and pieces of jewelry with Dhs20.3bn, cars with Dhs11.1bn, phones including mobiles or other wireless networks with Dhs8.3bn and fiber glass with Dhs4.2bn.

"In terms of weight," the FCA said, the total non-oil foreign trade hit 98.9 million tons, including 42.6 million tons in imports, 48.7 million tons in exports and 7.5 million tons in re-exports. "The trade structure has maintained stable order of regions in terms of major partners in the first nine months of 2012," said the FCA.

Asia- Pacific came at the top of the major trade partners of the UAE in non-oil foreign trade with a total of Dhs326.1bn at 42% of the total trade. Europe came second with Dhs222.2bn at 29% of the total trade, then the MENA with Dhs110.6bn (14%), America and the Caribbean with Dhs64.9bn (8%). The Western and Central Africa region came in the fifth place with Dhs23.2bn (3%) and finally came COMESA with Dhs20.8bn (2.7%).

The total non-oil foreign trade with the GCC states hit Dhs65.7bn in the first nine months of 2012, including Dhs25.9bn in imports, Dhs18.5bn in exports and 21.3bn in re-re-exports, the FCA said.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) came first in the trade partners in GCC states in the same period. The total UAE-KSA trade hit Dhs22.2bn at 33.8% of the total trade with GCC states. Oman came second with Dhs15.9bn (24.1%), followed by Kuwait with Dhs12.9bn (19.7%), Bahrain Dhs7.4bn (11.2%) and finally Qatar with Dhs7.3bn (11.1%).

In the first nine months of 2012, the total UAE foreign trade with Arab countries hit about Dhs113.3bn, including Dhs52.8bn in imports, Dhs26.1bn in exports and Dhs34.3bn in re-exports. The total trade in free markets and zones hit about Dhs12.7bn in the first nine months, including Dhs6.2bn in imports, onebn in exports and Dhs5.5bn in re-exports.