Foreign Trade Statistics is a great help for any kind of research on overseas markets. In India - there are mainly two sources for reliable foreign trade statistics - DGCIS and Customs. The former provides summary table for all merchandise export and import from India - commodity-wise and country-wise. The later provides shipment details for export and import - port-wise.

In this issue, we shall examine sample records from DGCIS statistics and discuss strong points as also limitations of this data. The objective is to help you develop a marketing plan based on best information sources.

DGCIS

Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) publishes 'Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade of India' Its March issue contains cumulative data for whole financial year (April to March). Let us take the example of export of Pepper and examine sample records from DGCIS compilation

Summary Table

ITC 9 - Spices
Article Code	Description	Unit	Total Quantity	Total Value (Rs.)
0904	Pepper of gennus piper; dried/crusted/ground/fruits of genus capsicum/genus pimenta	Kg	-	7,647,863,067.00
090411	Pepper neither crushed nor ground	Kg	32,531,713.00	6,056,532,521.00
09041101	Pepper Long	Kg	272,661.00	395,467,590.00
09041102	Light Black Pepper	Kg	7,396,950.00	1,384,730,425.00
09041103	Black Pepper Garbled	Kg	21,503,999.00	4,102,066,949.00
09041104	Black Pepper Ungarbled	Kg	1,042,080.00	184,672,164.00
09041105	Dehydrated Green Pepper	Kg	189,638.00	47,474,451.00
09041106	Pepper Pinheads	Kg	1,416,958.00	217,658,301.00
09041107	Freez Dried Green Pepper	Kg	50,439.00	25,151,102.00
09041108	Frozen Pepper	Kg	1,500.00	692,364.00
09041109	Other Pepper Incl White	Kg	32,531,713.00	6,056,532,521.00
09041200	Crushed or Ground Pepper	Kg	326,870.00	27,612,079.00

For each 8-digit Article Code (or ITC-Code) - DGCIS publishes country-wise distribution in following manner.

Article Code 09041101 - Pepper Long

Country	Unit	Quantity	Value (Rs.)	Avg Price (*)
Russia	Kg	38980	7,616,765.00	195.40
Pakistan	Kg	36804	5,419,538.00	147.25
Germany	Kg	46700	4,282,372.00	91.70
Canada	Kg	15000	3,340,922.00	222.73
United Arab Emirates (UAE)	Kg	14975	3,051,745.00	203.79
Sweden	Kg	16000	2,983,770.00	186.49
Trinidad	Kg	15000	2,691,337.00	179.42
South Africa	Kg	14902	2,662,439.00	178.66
Colombia	Kg	22000	2,345,351.00	106.61
Netherlands	Kg	13000	2,297,488.00	176.73
Sri Lanka	Kg	20185	799,786.00	39.62
Nepal	Kg	2425	557,825.00	230.03
Japan	Kg	10000	457,237.00	45.72
UK	Kg	400	139,348.00	348.37
Jamaica	Kg	1000	121,149.00	121.15
Malaysia	Kg	1100	121,105.00	110.10
Australia	Kg	710	57,533.00	81.03
Yemen	Kg	100	5,613.00	56.13

(*) - DGCIS does not provide 'Average Price' - I have included it for discussion.

Notes on DGCIS Statistics

• DGCIS statistics is considered as the most comprehensive, authentic and reliable source of Indian foreign trade data. It includes all merchandise export and import from India through all recognised sea-ports, air-ports, land customs stations, inland container depots, export processing zones, foreign post offices etc.



• Export statistics is based on Daily Trade Returns prepared from declarations made by exporters in shipping bill. Import statistics is based on declarations made by importers in bills of entry as subsequently checked by customs authority.



• The quantity, for both export and import, is net of packing. The value for export is FOB while that of import is CIF.

Limitations of DGCIS Statistics

Despite all the strong points about DGCIS statistics - one should be aware of certain limitations in this source.

• DGCIS statistics covers merchandise export and import only. It does not cover services, including software.



• It provides summary table, helpful for broad indication only. In the example of pepper export above - the quantity and value figures are clubbed for all varieties of pepper under given ITC code. With such clubbed figures - one can not get micro level picture of a specific variety.



• The value figure, though mathematically accurate, could be misleading in practical use as there may exist many varieties of a particular product. To illustrate this point, I have included 'Average Price' in country-wise distribution table (DGCIS does not provide Average Price). Look at wide variation of average price from country to country and you would not require any more elaboration.



Conclusion

One can not get more authentic and reliable foreign trade data in India than DGCIS statistics. It provides accurate country-wise data for analysis at macro level. For micro-level analysis, there exists another set of data from customs. We shall discuss that in next issue.