January 21, 2020 (MLN): The exports of food group witnessed an increase of 10.26% YoY to $2.19 billion during 1HFY20.
According to the latest data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on export receipts by commodities, the food group contributed 19% of the total exports during 1HFY20.
Whereas, imports of the food group into the country during the period under review were recorded at $2.56 billion, down by 13.48% YoY as per the data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The food group accounted for 11.04% of the total imports in 1HFY20.
On the exports side, Rice and Fish & Fish Preparations were the major sources of Foreign exchange earnings as their exports valued at $1.03 billion and $225 million, depicting a growth of 26.30% and 22.56% YoY respectively during 1HFY20.
During the month of December 2019, the exports of food products reached $442 million, signifying a decline of 8.36% YoY against of $482 million in December 2018. However, the food exports increased by 11.16% MoM in December 2019 when compared to the $397 million of November 2019.
On the imports side, the data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics revealed that imports of milk and dairy products shrank by 26% YoY, amounted to 26,956 metric tons, valued at $76 million during 1HFY20.
During the said period, Pakistan imported 1,516,181 metric tons of palm oil, worth a total of $842 million. This marks a decline of 9.58% compared with the same period of the last fiscal year.
A sharp decline was seen in tea imports. It dropped by 24% YoY to stand at $228 million during 1HFY20 when compared to the same period of FY19.
In the month of December 2019, the imports of food group valued at $477 million, down by 4.15% YoY against of $498 million in December 2018. Similarly, the food outflows decreased by 5.52% MoM in December 2019 versus $505 million of November 2019.
