Abu Dhabi’s non-oil trade rises to Dh12 billion in Aug

Total value of Abu Dhabi’s non-oil merchandise trade in August 2012 was Dh12.035 billion, of which Dh8.764 billion (72.8 per cent of total) was imports, Dh2.189 billion (18.2 per cent of total) was non-oil exports of and Dh1.082 billion (nine per cent of total) was re-exports, official figures showed on Monday. “Total non-oil merchandise trade grew by Dh294 million (2.5 per cent) in August compared with July 2012, with non-oil exports increasing by Dh1.130 billion (100 per cent) while imports retreated by Dh656 million (seven per cent) and re-exports by Dh180 million (14.2 per cent) over the same period of time,” Statistics Centre — Abu Dhabi (SCAD) said in its monthly report. Meanwhile, the value of non-oil exports increased by over 100 per cent, with increases of Dh642 million (100 per cent) in “Machinery and transport equipment”, Dh266 million (69.7 per cent) in “Chemicals and related products” and Dh192 million (100 per cent) in “Miscellaneous manufactured items”. On the other hand re-exports slipped by 14.2 per cent over the same period, primarily due to a fall of Dh165 million (18.7 per cent) in “Machinery and transport equipment”.  A year-on-year comparison of non-oil merchandise trade data (for August 2012 compared with August 2011) indicates a rise of Dh2.011 billion (20.1 per cent) in total trade, with non-oil exports increasing by Dh1.781 billion (100 per cent), and imports decreasing by Dh125 million (1.4 per cent) over the same period, due to decreases of Dh283 million (34.8 per cent) in the “Other commodities” group and Dh96 million (2.2 per cent) in “Machinery and transport equipment”, which were partially offset by increases of Dh155 million (22.9 per cent) in “Chemicals and related products” and Dh72 million (3.6 per cent) in “Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material”. Non-oil exports increased by over 100 per cent, reflecting increases of Dh731 million (100 per cent) in “Machinery and transport equipment”, Dh553 million (100 per cent) in “Chemicals and related products”, Dh227 million (93 per cent) in “Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material” and Dh199 million (100 per cent) in “Miscellaneous manufactured items”. Meanwhile, the value of re-exports increased by Dh355 million (48.9 per cent), due to increases of Dh254 million (54.8 per cent) in “Machinery and transport equipment” and Dh58 million (41.2 per cent) in “Miscellaneous manufactured items”. SCAD’s report also details the imports, non-oil exports and re-exports in August 2012 by value and trading partner, revealing that the top countries of origin for imports were South Korea, which was the source of imports worth Dh1.170 billion, USA Dh990 million and Saudi Arabia Dh865 million). These three countries supplied 34.5 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s total imports in August 2012. Saudi Arabia was the top destination of Abu Dhabi’s non-oil exports in August 2012, importing merchandise worth Dh542 million, followed by Bahrain Dh295 million and Qatar Dh243 million. The combined contribution of these three countries represented 49.3 per cent of total non-oil exports in August 2012. Bahrain topped the list of destinations for Abu Dhabi’s re-exports, receiving merchandise worth Dh273 million, followed by Qatar Dh192 million and Saudi Arabia Dh178 million. Re-exports to these top three countries made up 59.5 per cent of total re-exports during August 2012.