KOLKATA: Shipping liners have stopped booking export cargo destined for Russian and Ukrainian ports, officials said on Friday.
Russia is the topmost destination for India's engineering exports in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region.
"Many shipping liners stopped supplying containers and taking bookings for Russian ports due to geopolitical uncertainty. MSC which is a leader in global container shipping from eastern ports has also stopped booking," West Bengal Custom House Agents Society president Sujit Chakraborty told PTI.
Engineering products exporter Nipha Exports director Rakesh Shah said his company has a consignment for Russia but his liner HAPAG-Llyod has stopped container booking due to the situation.
This ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict may act as the most prominent deterrent in fulfilling the engineering exports target as the last quarter, especially the month of March, usually sees a substantial jump in exports, EEPC India chairman Mahesh Desai told PTI.
"If the strife continues for some more days, exports to Russia may not reach the expected level by the end of the fiscal,"´ Desai said.
Engineering exports to India was recorded at USD 544.41 million in 2018-19 and then surged by 36 per cent to reach an all-time high at USD 740.89 million in 2019-20.
Bilateral trade between India and Russia stood at USD 11.9 billion in 2021.
India exported USD 3.3 billion worth of goods and pharmaceutical products were the largest export commodity at USD 542 million.
India's exports to Ukraine stood at USD 510 million last year, with pharma products making up 32 per cent of it.
Other exports include telecom instruments, iron and steel, agrochemicals, coffee etc.
The two-way trade between India and Ukraine was USD 3.1 billion in 2021.
India imported goods worth USD 2.6 billion from Ukraine last year, USD 1.85 billion of which is vegetable oils, mainly sunflower oil.