UAE free zone trade reaches Dh269.6bn

The total non-oil trade of the United Arab Emirates (including the direct non-oil trade and free zone trade) increased to Dh794.3 billion in the first half of 2014, the preliminary statistical data of the Federal Customs Authority, FCA, revealed.
According to the data, the total direct non-oil trade has reached Dh524.7 billion, while the total free zone trade amounted to Dh269.6 billion during the same period.
The FCA preliminary data also showed an increase in the total free zone trade in the UAE in terms of value by 7% to Dh269.6 billion in the first half of 2014, in comparison with Dh250.9 billion in the first half of 2013.
The share of imports of the total free zone trade reached Dh152 billion in the first half, compared to Dh137.6 billion in the first half of the previous year, i.e. an increase of 10%, while the value of exports amounted to Dh11.3 billion, and the value of re-exports amounted to Dh106.3 billion, i.e. an increase of 5% from the same period of the previous year.
The FCA said in a press statement yesterday that the free zone trade in the UAE has witnessed increasing growth during recent years as a result of the flexible trade policy of the country and the various facilities provided by the country to attract major companies in the world to establish factories in the UAE free zones.
It pointed out that the geographical location of the UAE made it a commercial hub linking the East and West, and contributed to facilitating international trade movement and the capital movement for the establishment of major investment projects in free zones in order to benefit from the privileges and facilities provided.
The total volume of the free zone trade during the period, in terms of weight, was 16 million tons, i.e. an increase of 27% compared with the same period the previous year. 11.2 million tons out of the 16 million tons were imports, 1.1 million tons were exports, and 3.7 million tons were re-exports.
The FCA said that the daily average weight of consignments of the UAE free zones handled by the different customs ports reached about 67 thousand tons per day, on the basis of official working hours (8 hours per day, 5 days per week), with an average of 8.3 thousand tons per hour.
With regard to the map of the trading partners of the UAE in the field of free zone trade, the statement said that the regional structure of the trading partners of the UAE in the field of non-oil trade was stable in terms of classification in relation with the regions quotas, i.e. Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands region maintained first position among free zone partners with 48% of the total free zone trade areas, followed by the MENA region with 24%, the European region with 17%, America and the Caribbean region with 7%, Western and Central Africa with 3% and, finally, Eastern and Southern Africa with 2%.
In terms of imports at the regional level, the statistical data showed that 63% of the free zone imports during the period, came from Asia, Australia and the Pacific region, with a value of Dh94.3 billion, followed by the European Region with Dh31.9 billion, i.e. 21% of the total imports, then America and the Caribbean region with Dh14.3 billion, i.e. 10%, the MENA region with Dh6.4 billion, i.e. 4%, the Eastern and Southern Africa with Dh2.02 billion, i.e. 1.3%, and finally Western and Central Africa with Dh1.3 billion, i.e. 1% of the total imports.
Concerning free zone exports, the FCA explained that European countries represent the prime market for free zone non-oil exports, topping the major importers from free zones with 31% representing a value of Dh3.4 billion, followed by the MENA region with 31% representing a value of Dh3.3 billion, Asia, Australia and the Pacific region with 24%, i.e. Dh2.5 billion, the Eastern and Southern Africa with 6% i.e. Dh607 million, Western and Central Africa with 5%, equivalent to Dh566 million, and America and the Caribbean region with 3%, equivalent to Dh363 million.
The authority noted in its statement that the re-export statistics for the period, showed that the MENA region came on top of the list of the most important free zone trade partners in terms of re-exports with 55% equivalent to Dh51.3 billion of the total free zones re-exports, followed in second place by Asia, Australia and the Pacific region with 27%, i.e. Dh25.4 billion, the European region with 9%, or Dh8.1 billion, the Eastern and Southern Africa with 4%, i.e. Dh4.2 billion, Western and Central Africa with 3% and a value of Dh3.2 billion, and, finally, America and the Caribbean region with 2%, i.e. Dh1.9 billion.
In the area of free zone trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC, the FCA noted that the percentage of free zone trade with the GCC countries during the period reached 13% of the total free zone trade with the world, representing a value of Dh34.8 billion, and an increase of 6% compared to the same period of the previous year.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came in first place among the GCC countries in terms of the free zone trade value with Dh21 billion, representing 60% of the total free zone trade with the GCC countries, followed by Kuwait, with a value of Dh5.5 billion, representing 16%, then Qatar with Dh4.6 billion, i.e. 13%, Bahrain with Dh2.3 billion, i.e. 7% and, finally, the Sultanate of Oman with 4% and a value of Dh1.5 billion of the total free zone trade with GCC countries.
In terms of trade with Arab countries, the data showed that the total free zones trade with Arab countries during the period reached Dh61.6 billion, i.e. 23% of the total free zone trade with the world.
According to the statement, the free zone imports from Arab countries during the period reached Dh6.4 billion, representing 4% of the total imports. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came top of the top five Arab countries exporting to free zone with a value of Dh2 billion, representing 31% of the total trade of Arab countries with the UAE free zones, followed by Qatar with a value of Dh1.3 billion, i.e. 20%, then Kuwait with Dh943 million, i.e. 15%, Bahrain with Dh654 million, representing 10%, and finally Egypt with Dh588 million, i.e. 9% of the total free zones trade with the Arab countries.
The UAE free zones exports to Arab markets in the period reached Dh3.4 billion, representing 30% of the total free zones exports.
Iraq came on top of the top five Arab countries importing from UAE free zones with a value of Dh1.1 billion, i.e. 32% of the total free zone exports to Arab countries, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a value of Dh577 million, equivalent to 17%, then Jordan with Dh242 billion, i.e. 7%, and Libya and Syria with a value of Dh233 million, i.e. 7% each.
The FCA indicated that the UAE free zones re-export of goods to Arab countries during the period reached 49% of the total free zone re-exports i.e. a value of Dh51.8 billion. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came in first place among the top five Arab countries with a value of Dh18.4 billion, i.e. 36% of the total, followed by Iraq with Dh10.8 billion, equivalent to 21%, Kuwait with Dh4.3 billion, i.e. 8%, Egypt with Dh3.4 billion, equivalent to 7%, and Qatar with Dh3.2 billion, equivalent to 6% of the total.
Regarding the most traded goods during the period, statistics revealed that mobiles phones ranked first with a value of Dh31.2 billion, or 21% of the total, followed by petroleum oils with Dh12.3 billion, i.e. 8%, self-information processing machines with a value of Dh11.3 billion, i.e. 7%, then vehicles with Dh6.5 billion, i.e. 4%, and monitors and projectors with 3.8 billion dirhams and 3% of the total free zones imports.
In terms of the UAE Free zone non-oil exports during the period, cigarettes came in first place with a value Dh2.2 billion, representing 19% of the total free zone exports, then optical guidance ships and firefighting ships with a value of Dh2 billion, equivalent to 18%, followed by petroleum oils with a value of Dh945 million, i.e. 8%, then copper wires with a value of Dh476 million, i.e. 4% of the total.
The mobile phones came in first place as the most re-exported goods from UAE free zones in the first half of 2014, with a value of Dh32 billion, i.e. 30% of the total re-exports, followed by self-information processing machines with a value of Dh8.8 billion, i.e. 8 %, petroleum oils with Dh6.5 billion, i.e. 6%, vehicles with Dh5.1 billion, i.e. 5%, and monitors and projectors with a value of Dh2.6 billion, representing 2% of the total UAE free zone re-exports during the first half of 2014.