Abu Dhabi foreign trade surged 27.7 per cent in 2011 led by growing imports, said a report by Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi, or SCAD. Abu Dhabi imports totalled Dh116.37 billion in 2011, marking an increase of 34 per cent to Dh29.80 billion compared with 2010.

There was an increase of 25.6 per cent of Dh11.61 billion in machinery and transport equipment, which includes mechanical appliances and motor vehicles.

A significant increase of Dh9.24 billion or 45.2 per cent was also recorded in manufactured goods classified chiefly by material, which includes products of iron, steel, copper, plastic and textile goods.

In its annual report on non-oil merchandise trade for 2011, the statistics gathering agency said a year-on-year comparison shows that total non-oil merchandise trade grew 27.7 per cent to Dh139.42 billion in 2011, with imports growing 34 per cent to Dh29.80 billion, re-exports by 5.3 per cent, while no-oil exports declined by Dh130 million or 1.1 per cent.

The total value of foreign merchandise trade refers to the sum of non-oil export, re-exports and imports.

Non-oil export/import coverage indicator, which reflects the extent to which imported goods can be covered by total non-oil exports, SCAD points to fall in the ratio from 26.1 per cent in 2010 to 19.8 per cent in 2011 as a result of a larger increase of 34.4 per cent in imports compared with total non-oil exports two per cent in 2011.

The value of non-oil exports amounted to Dh11.48 billion in 2011, retreating by Dh0.13 or 1.1 per cent, year-on-year. The largest fall was recorded in the machinery and transport equipment, which dropped by Dh1.25 billion or 
20 per cent.

However, this decline was partially offset by increases of Dh0.88 billion or 42.7 per cent in exports of manufactured goods and Dh0.18 billion or 7.1 per cent in the exports of plastics. The combined contribution of these three groups made 92.8 per cent of total non-oil exports in 2011, down from 93.5 per cent in 2010.

Floating drilling or oil production platforms were the key products in the machinery and transport equipment category. Chemicals and related products consisted mainly of plastics and articles thereof, while manufactured goods classified chiefly by material included mainly articles of iron or steel and other metals.

According to SCAD, Industrial supplies not elsewhere specified accounted for the largest share of non-oil exports in 2011. Exports of this category totalled Dh5.43 billion, which makes up 47.3 per cent of non-oil exports by value. Capital goods was the second biggest category, amounting to Dh4.77 billion, which marks a decrease of Dh1.35 billion or 22.1 compared with 2010. The combined contribution of these two categories was 88.9 per cent of non-oil exports in 2011, down from 92.1 per cent compared with 2010.The volume of non-oil exports in 2011 was 1.53 million tonnes, outstripping the previous year’s figure by 0.13 million tonnes or nine per cent.