Daily Times

Pakistan’s textile exports register fall for 8th straight monthByOur Correspondent Saturday Jun 17, 2023facebook twitter whatsapp

Women stitch export quality garments in a factory in Sialkot on October 12, 2022. – APP Women stitch export quality garments in a factory in Sialkot on October 12, 2022. – APP Total exports from July through May of FY23 declined by 14.7%. In May, readymade garments decreased by 16.8%. Cement exports increase by 145.9% to $18.1mn in May 2023 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s textile sector has been impacted after its export earnings experienced a significant decline dropping by 19.57% to $1.32 billion in May 2023, compared to the $1.64 billion in the same month a year ago, data by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday. The country’s dwindling textile sales have witnessed a reduction for the eighth consecutive month. The total textile exports from July through May of FY23 declined cumulatively by 14.7% to $15.03 billion from $17.62 billion during the same period in FY22. Exports of all major textile components, including cotton cloth, knitwear, bedwear, towels, and readymade garments, have witnessed a decrease.

However, textile sector exports in May 2023 increased by 7.1% compared to the previous month, when the exports amounted to $1.23 billion. In May 2023, exports of cotton cloth decreased by 24.5% to $174.7 million, compared to $231.3 million in May 2022. Similarly, knitwear exports in May declined by 22.34% to $322.7 million, bedwear fell by 28.4% to $201.5 million, readymade garments decreased by 16.8% to $267.7 million, towels declined by 5.2% to $87.5 million, and cotton yarn exports decreased by 5.8% to $100.4 million compared to the same month of the previous year. On the other hand, readymade garments exports increased by 8.2%, cotton yarn by 57.4%, knitwear by 3.4%, and towels by 9.9% over April 2023. However, bedwear exports declined by 7.6% during the same period. In May 2023, exports of food groups decreased by 16.46% to $384.3 million compared to $460 million recorded in May 2022. Within the group, rice exports totaled $179.6 million, a 20.1% decrease from May 2022.