Non-oil foreign merchandise trade through the ports of Abu Dhabi in the second quarter of 2015 rose 15.7 per cent to reach AED42.4bn ($11.5) compared with the corresponding period in 2014.

This represents a trade value increase of $1.6bn year-on-year.

Imports, non-oil exports and re-exports accounted for 68.9 per cent, 21.1 per cent and 10 per cent of total trade, respectively.

Non-oil imports increased 6.1 per cent while non-oil exports rose 97.5 per cent over the same period in 2014. The overwhelming increase in non-oil exports managed to offset a decrease in re-exports, according to a report published by the Statistics Centre of Abu Dhabi (Scad).

More than half of imports (50.8 per cent) were accounted for by machinery and transport equipment, while 90 per cent of non-oil exports were accounted for by commodities and other transactions, manufactured goods and chemicals and related products. Consumer goods comprised nearly one-third of total re-exports.

At $1.09bn, imports from the US accounted for one-fifth of the total. Saudi Arabia was the leading destination of non-oil exports, receiving $700m-worth of trade, as well as re-exports (27.3 per cent), along with Kuwait (14.2 per cent), Bahrain (13.9 per cent) and Qatar (13.2 per cent).

Abu Dhabi’s key ports such as the Khalifa Port Container Terminal (KPCT) have been working to expand their capacity and services to cater to increasing market demand.