The latest S&P Global August 2026 Global Economic Outlook describes the global economy as resilient despite persistent uncertainty. S&P Global has raised its 2026 global real GDP growth forecast to 2.4 per cent, although this remains 0.5 percentage point below its February pre-conflict projection. At the same time, the outlook remains exposed to geopolitical developments, volatile oil prices and renewed inflationary pressures. The global trade environment similarly presents a mixed picture. The WTO’s latest assessment also points to resilience rather than a broad-based acceleration in world trade. World merchandise trade volume increased by 1.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 3.2 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. The WTO has also highlighted the vulnerability created by disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, while its August trade-monitoring in formation stresses the importance of diversified supply chains and international coordination. UNCTAD, while mentioning that global trade in first half of 2026 remained 12.5 per cent higher than last year cautions that a significant part of this increase reflects higher prices rather than an equivalent expansion in trade volumes, with disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz pushing up energy, transport and logistics costs.

 

Against this global backdrop of uncertainty, the resilience of India’s engineering exports becomes particularly significant. India’s engineering exports continued its growth journey with strong momentum in the opening months of fiscal 2026-27, despite a global trading environment characterised by geopolitical uncertainty, volatile energy prices and disruptions to major shipping routes. Engineering exports reached USD 12.24 billion in July 2026, registering a robust 17.71 per cent year-on-year growth. This was the second-highest monthly export performance of the current fiscal after May. On a cumulative basis, engineering exports during April-July 2026-27 stood at USD 46.38 billion, recording an impressive 18.21 per cent growth over the same period last year. As in the previous month, Engineering exports continued growing faster than India’s overall merchandise exports, which increased by 17.04 per cent during the same period.

 

The composition of India’s engineering exports is encouraging. 28 out of 34 engineering panels recorded growth during April-July 2026-27. The principal growth drivers included electrical machinery, copper and products, ships and floating structures, aluminium, iron and steel, and motor vehicles. Non-ferrous metals were particularly strong - cumulative exports of copper and products increased by 84 per cent, while aluminium and products grew by around 52 per cent. Electrical machinery exports increased by 22 per cent, automobiles by 13 per cent and ships, boats and floating structures by an exceptional 69 per cent during April-July. The geographical performance is equally noteworthy and suggests that Indian exporters are gradually broadening their market base. North America remained the largest regional destination, accounting for about 21 per cent of engineering exports during April-July, followed by the European Union at 17 per cent, WANA at 13 per cent, ASEAN at 11 per cent and North-East Asia at 9 per cent. the United States remained the largest destination, with engineering exports reaching USD 7.77 billion during April-July and growing 11.8 per cent. Particularly strong growth was recorded in China, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, France, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia and Oman. Some of the fastest growth came from markets outside the traditional destinations such as Oceania recorded an especially high growth of 40.4 per cent where India recently signed FTAs with both Australia and New Zealand.

 

Overall, India’s engineering export performance during the first four months of 2026-27 remains encouraging, particularly when viewed against an uneven global recovery. The combination of strong growth across metals, electrical machinery, automobiles and ships and boats, together with expanding penetration of Oceania, Asian, African and other emerging markets, provides a relatively broad base for sustaining export momentum. The WTO’s continuing emphasis on supply-chain resilience and UNCTAD’s concerns over trade-cost pressures reinforce the need for Indian engineering exporters to focus on competitiveness, technological upgrading, scale, standards and certification capabilities, and market diversification.

 

I would also like to encourage my fellow member exporters to look into the upcoming events and apply for participation in them as this would open up new markets for them. EEPC India is back with the second editions of PharmaMactech and LabNext Expos to be held in New Delhi. Additionally, EEPC India is participating in the overseas exhibitions- Automechanika Frankfurt and MSV Brno. Finally, the performance in July provides a strong start to the second quarter, but the evolving global environment makes competitiveness and diversification increasingly central to India’s engineering export strategy.