The April 2017, PBS trade data gave us no convincing numbers as they state that the net textile exports are flat year-on-year and down 3.7 percent month-on-month. For the ten months cumulative, textile exports are less than $10.3 billion – down one percent year-on-year. It seems the PM’s export package that was announced with such fanfare has done little to improve the situation.
Non-value added sector is the one that is affected the most. For 10MFY17, raw cotton exports are half of what they were a year ago, remaining under pressure owing to low domestic production; cotton yarn has fetched fewer dollars in spite of a 5.9 percent increase in volumes year-on-year; cotton cloth exports declined by 15 percent in volume and 5.7 percent in value.
While if we give a look at the value added front, an increase in volumes was seen in knitwear (3.1%), bed wear (6.9%), and readymade garments (4.8%). However, the value-added end of Pakistan’s textile industry seems to be improving and is making up for the decline in the basic textile exports. The share of Pakistani garments has been increasing in European markets. However, it can’t be said how much of this improvement can be attributed to the export package, which has not seen many implementations.
