January 20: Birgunj customs recorded export worth Rs 19 billion in the first six months of the current Fiscal Year (FY) 2077/78, while the import from the same customs point was Rs 210 billion during the review period.

The main entry point of the country recorded a trade deficit of Rs 190 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year.

According to the Birgunj Customs Office, the total worth of goods traded through this checkpoint from mid-July to mid-December this year has reached Rs 229 billion, which is 10 percent less than the corresponding period of the last Fiscal Year 2076/77. 

Products such as fuel, vehicles, medicines and industrial raw materials are imported through this checkpoint. Customs officer Ramesh Sukmani informed that raw material such as unrefined soybean oil, coal, tobacco, billet and other items were imported in large quantity.

The overall import from Birgunj custom has decreased. “The import has declined by about 12 percent during the review period compared to the previous fiscal year. Last year, the import from July to December was Rs 238 billion,” said Sukmani.

However, the export has increased by six percent. According to the data of Birgunj Customs, goods worth Rs 18 billion were exported till December last year. Last year, refined palm oil was exported the most via this customs point. The export was halted after India imposed a ban on import of palm oil.

This year palm oil has been replaced by refined soybean oil. According to the data provided by the customs office, of the total exports, soybean oil worth Rs 11 billion has been exported through this checkpoint.

Fourteen oil industries in the Birgunj-Pathlaiya Industrial Corridor have exported 78,341 metric tonnes of such oil to India in the first six months of this year. This is three and a half times more than the export of the same produce during the corresponding period of the previous year. Juice, cloth, toothpaste, synthetic yarn, shoes and carpets have also been exported from this point.