UAE non-oil trade grows to Dhs412.5bn in five months

The total non-oil foreign trade rose by Dhs35.9bn to Dhs412.5bn compared to Dgs376.6bn in the period of comparison.

The imports increased by 13% from early January to late May this year, raising the UAE non-oil exports by Dhs31.3bn from Dhs238.4bn in 2011 to Dhs269.7bn in the same period of this year, the FCA said in a press release yesterday.

"The exports grew within the above period by 38% from Dhs43.8bn to Dhs60.5bn, while re-exports hit Dhs82.4bn in this period", said the FCA.

In terms of weight, the UAE total foreign trade hit about 44.8 million tons in 2012 January- May, including 23.1 million tons in imports, 17.7 million tons in exports and 3.9 million tons in re-exports, the FCA said.

The daily average weight of consignments (exported, imported and re-exported) processed by different customs outlets hit about 187 thousand tons per day (23 thousand tons per hour).

"In May alone, the UAE foreign trade hit about Dhs92.2bn, including Dhs60.7bn in imports, Dhs13.7bn in exports and Dhs17.8bn in re-exports", the FCA.

Asia-Pacific region, the FCA said, retained its first place among the UAE top non-oil foreign trade partners with a total trade of Dhs181bn with the UAE - 45% of the total trade in the first five months.

"Europe came in the second place with Dhs104bn (26%) of the total trade followed by Middle East and North Africa with Dhs60.6bn (15%), America and the Caribbean with Dhs37.2bn (9%), Western and Central Africa region with Dhs11.9bn (2.9%) and COMESA with Dhs10.8bn (2.7%), the FCA said.

The total of UAE non-oil foreign trade with the Gulf Council Countries (GCC) hit Dhs38.6bn in the first five months of this year, the FCA said in the press release. This total consisted of Dhs16.9bn in imports, Dhs9.4bn in exports and Dhs12.3bn in re-exports.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the FCA said, kept its top place among the UAE trade partners from the GCC in the first five months of this year. The UAE total trade with the KSA reached Dhs12.5bn (32%). Kuwait came in the second place with Dhs9.1bn (23%) followed by, Oman with Dhs8.6bn (22%), Bahrain with Dhs4.4bn (12%) and finally Qatar with Dhs4bn (10%).

"The UAE total foreign trade with Arab countries hit about Dhs62.1bn in 2012 January- May. This total is divided into Dhs29.6bn in imports; Dhs13.4bn in exports and Dhs19.1bn in re-exports", the FCA added.

The initial statistics in this period showed that gold came at the top of the imported goods with Dhs47.3bn, followed by diamond with Dhs18.4bn, jewelry with Dhs17.2bn and cars with Dhs15.7bn, the FCA said.

Gold, the FCA said, was the top among exported goods with Dhs31.5bn, followed by polyethylene and propylene polymers in crude forms with Dhs5.4bn, jewels and pieces of jewelry with Dhs2.3bn and petroleum and other oils with Dhs1.3bn.

Diamond, the FCA indicated, came first in re-exports in 2012 January- May with Dhs18.5bn, followed by jewels and pieces of jewelry with Dhs9.4bn, cars with Dhs6.7bn and mobile phones with Dhs5.2bn. The total trade of markets and free zones, the FCA said, hit Dhs6.5bn for this period.