When it comes to manufacturing, supplying, exporting and importing, India comes first in all these. Indian export and import chemical business becomes one of the global hubs for traders in the past two years. Indian chemical industry is one of the oldest and contributing a major part in Indian economy around 7% of GDP.
A short intro about chemicals
Chemical is a short word to say but has wide range and applications in our day to day life. Whether we use thermoplastic furniture or paints for our walls or products for food processing, we inevitably connect with chemicals in a way or another. Chemicals are broadly classified into three categories:
• Basic or commodity chemicals include both organic and inorganic along with bulk petrochemicals, chemical intermediate, man- made fibers, dyes and printing inks and plastic resins.
• Agricultural chemicals especially consist of crop protection drugs and chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides.
• Specialty performance chemicals are derived from basic chemicals include flavors, rubber processing additives, fragrances, adhesives, paint, water management chemicals and electronic chemicals.
Globally the chemical industry contributed a vast economic growth. Due to the substantial cross border investment in this sector, there is high demand of chemicals in developing countries. It was an estimation that that the Global sale of chemicals is around US$ 2.45 trillion. While the world export of chemicals is estimated to be US$ 1600 billion for the same year. Some of the leading chemical exports countries are Japan, France, Germany, China and India.
Analysis of chemical imports and India’s exports
As per the analysis of the year 2010, the major chemicals that are traded worldwide are Acrylic monohydric alcohol (SITC Code 5121), Propylene polymers (5751), Cyclical hydrocarbons (5112), Acrylic hydrocarbons (5111), Polycarbonates (5743), Polyethylene (5711), Albuminoidal substances (5922), Polycarboxylic acids (5138), Ether and alcohol peroxide (5161) and Monocarboxylic acids and derivatives (5137).
Japan and USA are the leading importing countries according to the analysis. These countries have been mostly sourcing their import needs within the region. Since most of the EU countries are transferring their production base to other developing countries. India may effort to attract such opportunities and analyze the possibilities of maximizing its export business in European countries.
