India keeps strong trading position with UK: Maersk Line

India has maintained its strong trading position with the UK, registering a 6 percent year on year growth in exim container trade volumes for the first half of this year, container shipping company Maersk Line said today.

"As UK's third-largest trading partner, India's exim (export-import) container witnessed 6 percent growth in first half of 2016, which is three times the growth we saw in H1 2015," it said in a statement.

This growth happened despite a 2 percent decline in the UK's exim container trade volumes with the rest of the world during the same period, it added.

In terms of exports, India's top containerised commodity categories of garments, stones and tiles, kitchenware and appliances, and metal all registered stronger growth this year as against the last, it said.

"Mundra emerged as the number one port in terms of export volume traffic to the UK," said Franck Dedenis, Managing Director, India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh Cluster, Maersk Line.

In terms of imports, it said, among the top containerised commodity categories, metal and iron and steel scrap saw volume growth year on year.

It also suggested that India needs to continue to improve its cost competitiveness by reducing transactions cost.