Dubai: Dubai’s electronics trade has received an unwelcome jolt with local cargo operators not taking on consignments of such goods from Indian expats looking to ship them to India. This has been on for more than a month now, but local cargo industry sources say this has now ground to a complete halt.
Even if they did, there is the risk that the goods will get stuck once it reaches the Indian ports and never reach the hands of the intended parties. “We are saying “No” to all enquiries from Indian expats on electronic goods shipments,” said a manager with a local cargo operator. “There is no clarity on the situation and until such time there is one from Indian authorities, there cannot be a change to the current status quo.”
Local electronics retailers declined to comment on what sort of impact the Indian situation might have on their volumes. But they reckon that the impact can be “contained”.
But what brought on the situation? “It was found that duplicates were being carefully packaged to avoid suspicion and shipped to India,” said Raghu Menon, managing director at Hexomatrixx-MPCL Venture, a logistics firm.
“Many traders were taking advantage of the situation and buying these cheap products and exporting in LCLs (less than container load) or bulk to countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
“There are also traders who use these countries to dump electronic junk under this subterfuge. India has strongly raised this issue recently and warned of stiff penalties on violators. This is the reason for local cargo houses not accepting LCL or even bulk electronic cargo.”
Market sources suggest that TV volumes have been particularly hit, given the still sharp differential between what they cost here and in India. The gap has only widened following the latest Indian budget.
Some of the local cargo firms were doing up to 100 individual TV shipments a month to India. “The DSF period was especially good for electronics goods shipments, but since late February and through March there has been uncertainty,” the official with the cargo firm added.
However, Ashish Panjabi, chief operating officer at Jacky’s Electronics, claimed a solution will never be out of reach. “I don’t think it would be longlasting as the market for trade in electronics between the UAE and India is too large and lucrative for it to be shut,” said Panjabi.
For the moment, this is the second major setback a key sector of Dubai’s retail trade has had vis-à-vis India in recent times. The local gold retail sector is still impacted by India’s customs duties — dating back to the late 1960s but strictly enforced over the last year — on expatriates flying into the country and carrying jewellery beyond a certain price range. Even though the upper price limit was raised recently, it does not in any way reflect the steep turn gold values have taken in the last three years.
