Textile exports increase 7.72pc in four months to $4.3bn

ISLAMABAD: The textile exports from the country witnessed growth of 7.72 percent during the first four months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The textile exports during July-October (2017-18) were recorded at $4.390 billion compared to the exports of $4.075 billion during July-October (2016-17), showing growth of 7.72 percent, according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The textile commodities that contributed in positive growth in trade included raw cotton, exports of which grew by 46.69 percent during the period under review.

Raw cotton worth $42.564 billion was exported from the country during the current year compared to the exports of $29.016 million last year.

The exports of cotton yarn also increased by 5.04 percent by growing from $420.795 million last year to $442.023 million this year whereas the exports of yarn (other than cotton yarn) increased from $9.376 million to $10.342 million, showing a growth of 10.30 percent.

The exports of knitwear also increased from $789.209 million to $873.023 million, showing growth of 10.62 percent while bed wear exports from the country increased from $716.438 million to $755.419 million, an increase of 5.44 percent, according to the PBS data.

The country exported readymade garments worth $803.526 million compared to the exports of $699.909 million last year, showing increase of 14.80 percent while the exports of art, silk and synthetic textile increased by 60.61 percent, by growing from $62.799 million last year to $100.862 million during the current year.

The exports of made-up articles (excluding towels and bead wear) increased by 8.81 percent, from $204.200 last year to $222.183 million this year while the exports of other textile material surged by 19.48 percent from $128.458 million last year to $153.488 million, according to the data.

The textile items that witnessed negative growth in exports during the period under review included cotton (carded or combed), exports of which witnessed cent percent decrease while the exports of cotton also decreased by 2.21 percent, from $731.271 million last year to 715.085 million during the current year.

The exports of tents, canvas and tarpaulin also decreased by 34 percent by going down from $35.728 million last year to $23.580 million during the ongoing fiscal year.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the textile exports from the country increased by 7.12 percent during the month of October 2017 compared to the same month of last year. The textile exports during October 2017 were recorded at $1132.848 million against the exports of 1057.546 million during October 2016, the data revealed.