Total import of sensitive items for the period April-October 2010 has been Rs.40499 crore as compared to Rs.35487 crore during the corresponding period of last year thereby showing an increase of 14.1%. The gross import of all commodities during same period of current year was Rs.889827 crore as compared to Rs 743469 crore during the same period of last year. Thus import of sensitive items constitutes 4.8% and 4.6% of the gross imports during last year and current year respectively. 

Imports of pulses, fruits & vegetables (including nuts), cotton & silk, spices and tea & coffee have declined at broad group level during the period. Imports of all other items viz. edible oil, automobiles, rubber, products of SSI, milk & milk products, marble & granite, alcoholic beverages and food grains have increased during the period under reference. 

           In the edible oil segment, the import has increased from Rs 14205 crore last year to Rs 15882 crore for the corresponding period of this year. A significant feature of edible oil import is that import of crude oil has gone up by 17.2% and that of refined oil have gone down by 16.0%. The increase in edible oil import is mainly due to substantial increase in import of soya-bean crude oil.

           Imports of sensitive items from Indonesia, China P RP, Argentina, Korea RP, Malaysia, United States of America, Germany, Ukraine, Thailand, Australia, Cote D' Ivoire, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Vietnam SOC REP, New Zealand, etc. have gone up while those from Myanmar, Canada, Brazil, Japan etc. have gone down.

Import trends of sensitive items show sectoral shifts: crude edible oil up, refined oil down and mixed commodity movements. Imports of designated sensitive items rose in April-October 2010 versus the prior year, increasing by about fourteen percent while representing a marginally smaller share of gross imports. Commodity movements were mixed: declines occurred in pulses, fruits and vegetables, cotton and silk, spices and tea and coffee, while edible oil, automobiles, rubber, SSI products, milk and milk products, marble and granite, alcoholic beverages and food grains increased. Edible oil imports shifted toward higher crude and lower refined oil, largely due to increased soya-bean crude oil imports, and country-level import flows showed both increases and decreases across trading partners.