India’s Diplomacy At Peak Achieved Highest Exports To South America

Table of Contents

India’s exports to Latin America reached a record high of 89 billion dollars in 2021-22 (April-March), according to the Commerce Ministry of India.
Brazil – 1 destination of India’s exports to the region, with 6.49 billion dollars, an increase of 53% from 2020-21.

Mexico – 2 with 4.42 billion dollars – an increase of 43%.
Argentina – third position – 43 billion dollars –107% increase from last year.
Colombia – 3 with 1.38 billion- increase of 59% from 865 million
Chile –18 billion, increasing by 47%

COMPARISON WITH NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES

India’s exports to some Latin American countries are more than the exports to neighboring countries or traditional trade partners with the same or more population.

India’s exports of 552 million dollars to Guatemala (population 11 million) are more than twice that of the exports of 198 m to the neighbouring Cambodia with a population of 16 million.

Exports of 318 m to the remote Honduras (population 10 m) are more than the exports of 235 m to nearby Kazakhstan with a population of 19 m.

Exports to Brazil (6.48 bn) are higher than to the traditional trade partners such as Japan (6.18 bn) and Thailand (5.7 bn)

Exports to Mexico ( 4.43 bn) are more than the exports to Canada ( 3.7 bn) and Russia ( 3.2 bn).

Car exports

Motorcycles

Exports of motorcycles were 909 million dollars.
This is 30.5 % of India’s global exports of 2.99 bn.
India was the second largest supplier of motorcycles to Latin America.
Major destinations were Colombia 309 million dollars, Mexico 174 m, Guatemala 103 m and Peru 43 m.
Colombia was the 2^nd largest global market for Indian motorcycles after Nigeria.
Some years back Colombia was the no. 1 destination.
Indian brands are market leaders in Colombia and Guatemala.

Pharmaceuticals

Major destinations of India’s pharma exports

Brazil 374 million dollars, Peru 105 m, Chile 153 m, Mexico 167 m, Colombia 103 m, Dominican Republic 67 m, Venezuela 102 m, Guatemala 64 m, Bolivia 46 m and Ecuador 34 m.
India ranked as no.3 supplier of organic chemicals to the region.

India’s imports from Latin America were 25.62 billion dollars in 2021-22. Major suppliers were:

Venezuela used to be the major source of oil imports in the region for the last 15 years
But the US sanctions have drastically cut down the Venezuelan supply from its peak of around 10 billion dollars to just 89 m in 2021-22.
- There was no import in 2021-22.

Latin America is the main source of soy oil imports of India.
Argentina, was the no.1 global supplier of soy oil with 27 billion dollars, followed by Brazil 1.07 bn.

India’s exports had increased from 10.04 billion dollars in the beginning of the decade to 7 bn in 2014-15.
But the Latin American recession and economic difficulties caused a dip in India’s exports in 2015-16.
Since then the exports have increased steadily and in 2021-22 spectacularly
India’s imports reached a peak of 38 billion dollars in 2012-13 due to the high crude oil prices and large volume of India’s imports from Venezuela.
The annual India-Latin America trade in 2021-22 has exceeded the peak of 44.08 billion dollars in 2013-14