MUSCAT: Oman’s bilateral trade with India fell sharply in 2014, driven by a major slump in imports and crude exports.
After posting an impressive growth in the previous years, Oman’s bilateral trade with India fell sharply in 2014, driven by a major slump in imports and crude exports.
On the other hand, Oman’s trade with China witnessed a dramatic rise.
According to figures released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), imports from India fell by 58.8 per cent to RO450mn during the January-November period of 2014, against RO1.09bn in the same period of the previous year.
Imports from China, however, surged 37.6 per cent to RO485mn from RO352.3mn a year earlier.
Oman’s total merchandise imports declined an annual 14.1 per cent to RO10.32bn in the first 11 months of 2014.
India’s major imports from Oman include petroleum and petrochemical products and fertilisers, while the country’s
exports to Oman include machinery, electrical and electronic equipments, iron and steel products, synthetic fibre and yarn, textile and apparel, meat, coffee, tea, rice and plastic products.
Oman’s non-oil exports to India fell by as much as 6.7 per cent to RO365mn. While non-oil exports to China were up marginally at RO200.5mn, Oman’s non-oil exports to Pakistan jumped 73 per cent to RO401.1mn, surpassing India.
Oman’s total non-oil exports increased 7.3 per cent to RO3.75bn from a year earlier.
China continued to be the largest buyer of Oman crude with oil imports from the sultanate up 16.4 per cent to 210.5mn barrels in 2014 from 180.8mn barrels in 2013. China accounted for 72 per cent of Oman’s total oil exports in 2014, up from nearly 60 per cent in 2013.
Oil shipments to India slumped 62.6 per cent to 4.92mn barrels from 13.15mn barrels.
Trade relations between Oman and China have been steadily progressing with China remaining the biggest oil importer from Oman. The main products that Omani buyers focus on purchasing from China are building materials, machinery, electronics and other daily use items.
