UAE non-oil foreign trade soars 28% to hit Dh70.9b

The UAE's non-oil foreign trade achieved breakthrough growth of 28 per cent year-on-year in February. The preliminary statistical data of FCA confirmed that the UAE non-oil foreign trade jumped Dh15.3 billion to Dh70.9 billion from Dh55.6 billion in the same period a year ago. In a press release issued yesterday, the FCA announced that the preliminary statistical data for February 2011 reflected a 24 per cent rise in imports to Dh45.5 billion compared to Dh36.8 billion in February 2010. Export growth The exports recorded significant growth of 54 per cent to Dh7.3 billion from Dh4.7 billion in February 2010. Similarly, re-exports recorded a year-on-year growth rate of 29 per cent to Dh18.1 billion from Dh14.1 billion. The total volume of UAE non-oil trade in terms of weight in February 2011 reached about 6.5 million tonnes, including 4.2 million tonnes of imports, 1.6 million tonnes of exports and 683,000 tonnes of re-exports. The average weight of imported, exported and re-exported shipments and consignments dealt with by the different customs ports for the same month amounted to about 323,000 tonnes per day on the basis of official working hours (8 hours for 5 days a week), at an average of 40,000 tonnes per hour. According to the FCA press release, India, China, the US, Japan, the UK, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Turkey and Malaysia were the top ten exporters to the UAE in February 2011, accounting for a total value of Dh29.2 billion, or 64 per cent of UAE imports. For non-oil exports, India, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Thailand, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Iran, Qatar, Turkey and Iraq lead importers with a total of Dh5.4 billion, accounting for 73 per cent of the UAE exports. Meanwhile, India, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Belgium, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Thailand topped the list in terms of re-exports with Dh14.4 billion, representing 80 per cent of the UAE re-exports. The total value of UAE-GCC non-oil foreign trade hit Dh5 billion in February 2011, with Dh2.1 billion in imports, Dh1.1 billion in exports and Dh1.8 billion in re-exports. Strong trading partner Saudi Arabia maintained the first rank among the GCC region's trading partners with a total value of Dh1.9 billion. Kuwait came second with Dh940 million, followed by Qatar (Dh9.4 million), Bahrain (Dh652 million) and Oman (Dh559 million). The FCA said, "The total foreign trade volume of the UAE with the Arab countries in terms of value amounted to Dh8.5 billion in February 2011, with Dh3.6 billion worth of imports, Dh1.6 billion worth of exports and Dh3.3 billion worth of re-exports. Saudi Arabia topped the list of Arab states in terms of non-oil trade with the UAE, followed by Sudan, Oman, Iraq, Libya and Egypt, while Palestine tailed the list." The preliminary statistical data of February 2011 showed that diamond took the first position among imports, with a value of Dh7.5 billion.