The UAE's non-oil foreign trade surged by 12 per cent during the first eight months of 2012 to hit Dh678 billion ($184.5 billion) compared to Dh608 billion, said a report, citing official data.

Saudi maintained its top spot among the UAE trade partners in the GCC compared to the previous period. The UAE-Saudi trade hit about Dh19.8 billion with 33.6 per cent of the total trade with the GCC states, the state news agency Wam reported, citing the Federal Customs Authority (FCA)..

The foreign non-oil trade maintained its positive growth during the January to August period 2012 registering a Dh70 billion growth compared to the same period the year before, the state news agency Wam reported, citing the Federal Customs Authority (FCA).

The data of the UAE foreign non-oil trade reflected several positive indicators within the first eight months, the report stated.

These indicators include the ever-increasing growth rates of exports at 49 per cent, with the total export increasing by Dh37.3 billion to Dh112.8 billion compared to Dh75.5 billion in the same period of the last year.

The imports soared by 11 per cent driving the UAE non-oil imports up from Dh388.4 billion to Dh431.7 billion in the comparative period with an increase of Dh43.3 billion. However, the re-exports fell by 7 per cent to Dh133.5 billion for the same period, the report stated.

In terms of weight, the FCA said, the UAE total foreign trade hit about 85.1 million tons in the first eight months, including 37.7 million tons in imports, 40.6 million tons in exports and 6.8 million tons in re-exports.

"The UAE foreign trade with the outside world hit about Dh84 billion in August 2012 alone, including Dh51.7 billion in imports, Dh18.1 billion in exports and Dh14.3 billion in re-exports", the FCA added.

The trade regional structure was stable in the same period. Asia, Australia and Pacific maintained its top place among the UAE most notable partners in non-oil foreign trade, said the report.

The total trade of the UAE with this region reached Dh284.8 billion at 43 per cent of the total trade, it added.

Europe came second with Dh189.3 billion at 28 per cent of the total followed by Mena region with Dh95 billion (14 per cent) and America and the Caribbean with 58.7 billion (9 per cent).

The Western and Central Africa region came in the fifth place with Dh19.5 billion (2.9 per cent) and finally the Comesa with Dh17.6 billion (2.6 per cent), said the report.

The UAE non-oil foreign trade with the GCC too witnessed solid growth at Dh59 billion which included Dh23.7 billion in imports, Dh16.2 billion in exports and Dh19 billion in re-exports, it stated.

Saudi maintained its top spot among the UAE trade partners in the GCC compared to the previous period. The UAE-Saudi trade hit about Dh19.8 billion with 33.6 per cent of the total trade with the GCC states.

Oman came second with Dh14.1 billion (23.8 per cent) followed by Kuwait with Dh12.1 billion (20.5 per cent), Bahrain with Dh6.6 billion (11.2 per cent) and finally Qatar with Dh6.4 billion (10.8 per cent).

The UAE total foreign trade with the Arab countries hit about Dh97.5 billion in the first eight months of 2012, including Dh44.1 billion in imports, Dh23.1 billion in exports and Dh30.3 billion in re-exports, it added.

According to FCA, the initial statistics showed that gold, diamond, jewels and jewelry, cars and phones were the best ten selling goods in the UAE non-oil foreign trade, in form of imports, exports and re-exports.

"Gold tops the imports in the comparison period with Dh87.4 billion, followed by diamond with Dh25.6 billion, then cars with Dh24.8 billion, and jewels and jewelry with Dh24.1 billion, and phones with Dh7 billion", the FCA said.

Gold is also on the top of the exports in the comparison period with Dh64.6 billion, followed by polyethylene and polypropylene with Dh4.7 billion and jewels and pieces of jewellery with Dh3.8 billion and the crude aluminum with Dh3 billion and petroleum and other oils with Dh2.1 billion.

Diamond topped the list of re-exports which hit Dh26.4 billion followed by jewels and pieces of jewellery with Dh20.3 billion, cars (Dh11.1 billion), phones (Dh8.3 billion) and parts and accessories of locomotives (Dh3.3 billion) and gold with Dh2.5 billion.

According to the FCA, the total trade in markets and free zones hit about Dh11 billion in the eight months, including Dh5.5 billion in imports, Dh904 million in exports and Dh4.7 billion in re-exports.-TradeArabia News Service