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This Article is From Jun 01, 2023

India's Declining Imports Reflect Falling Import Prices, Not Declining Domestic Demand: ICICI Securities

India's Declining Imports Reflect Falling Import Prices, Not Declining Domestic Demand: ICICI Securities
Shipping containers at a port. (Source: Barrett Ward / Unsplash)

BQ Prime's special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India's top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime's subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy. 

ICICI Securities Report

India's imports declined 6.2% YoY in January-April 2023, leading many commentators to assert that this was evidence of declining domestic demand. Our conclusion from a deep dive into the key sources of decline in India's imports is that 50% of them saw the value of their imports decline because of big YoY declines in import prices (oil, coal, fertilisers and vegetable-oil).

Imports of machinery and base metals (together comprising 14% of India's imports) continued to grow in FY22 and FY23, and saw no let-up in recent months – evidence of continued strength in India's investment demand.

Electronics and chemical imports (which together comprise 19% of India's imports) declined over the past half-year, while their exports continued to grow (very robustly in the case of electronics), suggesting that the import decline was actually evidence of import-substitution.

Gems and jewellery imports (9% of total imports) are strongly correlated with gems and jewellery exports, so the latter's sluggishness explains much of the decline in those imports, although a small portion likely also represents weaker domestic demand.

That leaves just another 8% of total imports – among which plastic and rubber products (5% of imports) also grew in recent months. So the import data provide scant evidence of any weakness in domestic demand.

Click on the attachment to read the full report:

ICICI Securities Economy Declining Imports.pdf
VIEW DOCUMENT

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This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.

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