Plastic import increases 18.08pc to $1,119mn in 1st half

ISLAMABAD: The import of plastic material into the country witnessed an increase of 18.08 percent during the first half of the current financial year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Pakistan imported plastic worth $1119.093 million during July-December (2020-21) as compared to the imports of $947.744 million during July-December (2019-20), according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, plastic imports also witnessed an increase of 36.76 as the country imported 1,001,690 metric tons of plastic during the period under review as compared to the imports of 732,462 metric tons last year.

Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, plastic imports into the country during December 2020 rose by 40.25 percent, from $157.767 million in December 2019 to $221.271 million.

Similarly, on a monthly basis, plastic imports during December 2020 increased by 14.72 percent when compared to the imports of $192.881 million in November 2020.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandise trade deficit increased by 5.93 percent during the first six months of current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the deficit of the corresponding period of last year.

The deficit during July-December (2020-21) was recorded at US $12.363 billion as compared to the deficit of $11.671 billion, showing increase 5.93 percent.

During the period under review, the country s exports registered growth of 5.09 percent, by going up from US $11.524 billion last year to $12.110 billion during the current year.

On the other hand, the imports also increased by 5.51 percent, from US $ 23.195 billion last year to US $24.473 billion during the current year.