Abu Dhabi records Dh13.4b in non-oil merchandise trade
Value of goods traded dropped by 2.4% in March
The total value of non-oil foreign merchandise trade through the ports of the emirate of Abu Dhabi in March 2015 reached Dh13.4 billion — of which Dh9.7 billion was imports, Dh2.1 billion was non-oil exports, and Dh1.6 billion was re-exports.
A statement by the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (Scad) yesterday showed that total merchandise trade through Abu Dhabi ports declined by Dh336 million (2.4 per cent) in March compared to February 2015.
While imports fell by Dh109 million, non-oil exports also dropped by Dh386 million (15.4 per cent), partly offset by an increase of Dh159 million in reexports during that period.
A year on year comparison (March 2014 to March 2015) shows an increase of Dh1.4 billion (11.9 per cent) in total trade, with imports increasing by Dh884 million (10 per cent), and non-oil exports by Dh423 million (24.9 per cent).
Countries of origin
An analysis of non-oil foreign merchandise trade data by Standard International Trade Classification comparing March 2015 with February 2015 showed a 1.1 per cent decrease in total imports.
This was mainly due to a Dh486 million drop in “manufactured goods classified chiefly by material”.
However, the drop was offset by a Dh445 million increase in the imports of “crude materials, inedible, except fuels”.
Meanwhile, re-exports increased by 11.1 per cent, reflecting a Dh130 million rise in the Machinery and transport equipment category.
According to Scad, the three main countries of origin for imports were the US (with Dh1.5 billion), Saudi Arabia (with Dh1.1 billion) and Japan (with Dh965 million). The three countries accounted for 36.6 per cent of total imports to the UAE.
In terms of non-oil exports, the top three trading partners were Saudi Arabia (Dh790 million), China (Dh248 million), and Switzerland (Dh199 million), with the three countries accounting for a combined share of 58.5 per cent of total non-oil exports.