NEW DELHI: The global slowdown is making its mark on the economy, with engineering exports to key markets China, the EU and the US declining sharply in December. Engineering exports contribute about a quarter to the overall exports.

“Some of the recent reports suggest global trade would remain subdued in the first half of 2023. The S&P Global report has estimated that global trade may decline1.9 per cent and 1.4 per cent in the first and second quarters of 2023, respectively. However, the report also indicates that global trade would recover later in the year. Therefore there is some positive news for India in the coming months,” EEPC India Chairman Arun Kumar Garodia said.

“Till then there are certain factors about which India should be cautious — the protective duty structure in the EU, withdrawal of EUGSP (generalised scheme of preferences) and EU’scarbon border adjustment mechanism are expected to have some transformational impact on India’s presence in global supply chains,” he said.

Data showed the value of shipments to the US, the top market for India’s engineering goods, declined 7.3 per cent to$1.58 billion in December 2022compared with $1.71 billion in December 2021.

Exports to China registered a 47 per cent decline to$233.2 million compared with$440.7 million a year ago.

Engineering exports to the EU fell 14.3per cent to $1.54 billion.Shipments to the UAE dipped 18.9 per cent to 456.3 million.

Total engineering exports stood at $9.08 billion against$10.30 billion in December 2021.