Coronavirus impact: Auto exports plunge 73% in May due to lockdown disruptions

The auto exports plunged 73 per cent last month to $230.3 million (about Rs 1,736 crore) as compared to the year-ago period with shipments to key markets like the US and Mexico registering a sharp decline owing to supply-chain issues due to lockdown, EEPC India said on Monday.

The exports of auto components too suffered a major setback during the month with important markets including the US, Mexico, Germany, and Japan reporting "de-growth in the range of 34-68 per cent," the Engineering Exports Promotion Council (EEPC) India said in a release.

"Covid-19 public health crisis has taken a massive toll on exports of India's automobiles in May 2020 with as much annualised erosion as 98 per cent and 65 per cent in shipments to key markets like the US and Mexico, respectively," it said.

The exports to the US last month in value terms stood at a mere $1.37 million as against $79.82 million in the same month last year while shipments to Mexico dropped to $42.50 million from $122.98 million, the Council said.

''Supply chains broke down due to mobility restrictions and wave of postponement of foreign orders in the sector led to such massive drop in exports. Out of 33 engineering panels, 28 panels recorded negative growth in exports during May this year vis- -vis May 2019,'' EEPC India Chairman Ravi Sehgal said.

In April-May period of the ongoing financial year, the exports dropped by 83 per cent to $281.1 million from $1,632.7 million in the year ago period, it said.

The total export of auto components and parts recorded 65.5 per cent decline at $163.2 million during May 2020 from $473.6 million exports in the same month last year, it said. In April-May period, the export plunged 77.8 per cent to $196.3 million from $885.6 million in the same period of the previous fiscal.

However, the US remained the top importer of auto components in April-May 2020 with a share of 22.33 per cent followed by Turkey, Germany, Japan and Mexico with a share of 8.30 per cent, 6.89 per cent, 4.34 per cent and 3.79 per cent, respectively, EEPC said.

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