Engineering exports to Iraq more than halved in May

KOLKATA: India’s engineering goods exports to Iraq more than halved in May and have now almost come to a halt due to ongoing clashes between government forces and rebels in the West Asian country.

Engineering exports to Iraq dropped 54.30% to $9.14 million in May from $20 million a year earlier, according to EEPC India, the official engineering exports promotion council.

“There is a clear negative growth of our exports to Iraq,” EEPC India chairman Anupam Shah said. “When the country is in the middle of a war, it is understandable that the economic activity is in complete disarray. Moreover, the engineering items are not of day-to-day use for the people,” he said.

In the first two months of this fiscal, engineering exports to Iraq dropped 23.49% to $28.65 million from $37.49 million in April-May 2013.

Iron and steel, electrical goods and automobiles have been main items of export to Iraq from India.

Exports of these items to Iraq had started decelerating even before the war between rebels and government forces in had escalated to almost a civil war. Engineering shipments declined sharply to $326 million in 2013-14 from $594 million in the previous fiscal.

Shah said the Iraq crisis has impacted Indian exporters’ confidence to do business in the entire Middle East. “Unfortunately, the geo-political situation in the Middle East, which is such an area of strategic interest to India’s business and economy, has turned negative,” the EEPC India chairman said.