Saudi Arabia remained UAE's number one trading partner in the first half of 2011 with a total value of AED13.5 billion, the UAE Federal Customs Authority (FCA) preliminary statistical report released Sunday said. Kuwait came second with AED5.7 billion, followed by Oman (AED4.3 billion), Bahrain (AED4.2 billion) and Qatar (AED4.1 billion). The total value of UAE-GCC non-oil foreign trade hit AED31.8 billion in the period, registering AED13.3 billion in imports, AED7 billion in exports and AED11.5 billion in re-exports. "UAE total foreign trade with Arab countries in terms of value amounted to AED55.8 billion in the first two quarters of 2011, with AED24.1 billion worth of imports, AED10.9 billion worth of exports and AED 20.7 billion of re-exports. Saudi Arabia topped the list of Arab states in terms of non-oil trade with the UAE, followed by Sudan, Oman, Iraq, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt and Kuwait. Djibouti and Comoros tailed the list," the report said. The FCA data in the first half showed that gold ranked first among imports with a value of AED45.6 billion, followed by diamond with AED35.6 billion, cars with AED12.9 billion, ornaments and jewelry with AED12.2 billion, and telephone sets with AED5.2 billion. Gold also came first among exports in the first two quarters with AED27.7 billion, followed by fire-fighting, guiding and other ships with AED4.3 million, petroleum oils and other derivatives with AED1.8 billion, ethylene polymers with AED1.4 billion, ornaments, jewelry and related parts with AED879 million. On re-exports, diamond came first with a total value of AED37.2 billion, followed by cars (AED6.7 billion), ornaments and jewelry and related parts (AED6.4 billion), telephone sets (AED4.2 billion). The total trade volume of UAE free zones and markets in the two quarters amounted to AED6.6 billion. FCA said in a statement India, China, US, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, Italy, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland, respectively, topped exporters' list to the UAE in Q 1 and Q2, 2011 with a total value of AED175.5bn, or 62 percent of the UAE total imports. "On the level of non-oil exports, India, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Kuwait, Iran, Singapore, Iraq and Turkey, respectively, spearheaded importers from the UAE with AED28 billion, accounting for 69 percent of the UAE exports," the FCA added. "Meanwhile, India, Iran, Iraq, Hong Kong, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Qatar and Bahrain, respectively, topped the list in terms of re-exports with AED78 billion, representing 74 percent of the UAE total re-exports." FCA report further showed that exports witnessed a double-digit growth rate hitting 44 percent during the period in question due to a value increase from AED36 billion to AED54.7 billion. Re-exports grew 17 percent to AED105.3 billion from AED89.8 billion in the same period last year. In terms of value, UAE total foreign trade in June 2011 was valued YoY at AED74.7 billion compared to AED65.1 billion, an increase of 15 percent. June imports hit YoY AED47.5 billion, an increase of 14 percent. Exports surged 61 percent YoY to AED11.3. However, re-exports recorded a YoY decrease of 4 percent to hit AED15.9 billion. UAE total foreign trade in the first six months has hit 41.3 million tons, of which 25.8 million tons in imports, 11.1 million tons in exports and 4.3 million tone in re-exports. UAE's non-oil foreign trade increased from AED364.3 billion in for the same period in 2010 to AED445 billion in 2011; i.e., an AED80.7 increase. Data on import growth revealed a 20 percent increase from AED236.5 billion in 2010 to AED285 billion in 2011 for same period.
