Pakistan’s textile group exports have declined by 12.4% in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2022-23, amounting to $12.476 billion as compared to $14.242 billion during the same period last year, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The data also showed a year-on-year decline of 22.61% in textile group exports in March 2023, with exports totaling $1.257 billion compared to $1.625 billion during the same month last year.
On a more positive note, textile group exports experienced a month-on-month (MoM) growth of 6.55% compared to $1.180 billion in February 2023. However, cotton yarn exports registered a negative growth of 36.92% in July-March, remaining at $573.084 million compared to $908.487 million during the same period last year. On a year-on-year basis, cotton yarn exports registered 26.32% negative growth, while on a MoM basis, it registered 22.43% growth.
Rice exports also saw a decline of 10.79% during the first nine months of 2022-23, remaining at $1.598 billion compared to $1.791 billion during the same period of the previous fiscal year. Despite this, the country’s overall exports during July-March 2022-23 totaled $21.051 billion (provisional) against $23.350 billion during the corresponding period of the last year, showing a decrease of 9.85%.
In March 2023, the main commodities of exports were knitwear, readymade garments, bed wear, rice others, cotton cloth, towels, rice basmati, cotton yarn, sugar, and fish and fish preparations. These commodities amounted to Rs87,269 million, Rs77,456 million, Rs55,154 million, Rs48,799 million, Rs44,260 million, Rs22,077 million, Rs19,467 million, Rs19,073 million, Rs17,389 million, and Rs15,325 million, respectively.
The decrease in Pakistan’s textile group exports could be attributed to various factors, including a shortage of raw materials, higher input costs, and the ongoing pandemic’s impact on global trade. However, the month-on-month growth in March offers some hope for the country’s textile industry.
