November 20, 2018 (MLN): Slipping by an inch compared to last year, textile exports in October 2018 witnessed a 0.2% decline, owing to a couple of reasons including a 7% QoQ decline in international cotton prices, due to slowdown in global demand. Exports of raw cotton from Pakistan suffered a blow of 60%, YoY.
In addition to this, echoing newsflow has divulged that cotton production target has been reviewed downward by a quarter, to 10.8 million bales, against the initial target of 14.4 million bales. Thus production has relatively dipped.
A 16% YoY decline in non-value added textile exports ($0.27 billion) caused the overall exports to dip. Fortunately, a 6% higher YoY exports of value added textile products ($0.86 billion) absorbed the otherwise greater impact of initial drop.
On the contrary, a look at the more recent figures and month-on-month evaluation tells us that as compared to September 2018, textile products exported in October 2018 have amplified by over 10%.
Given the upcoming winter season, global demand for garments is on a rise at present. Value added products exported during the month have marked an increase of 15% MoM. A detailed summary of the products exported shows that within the lot, exports of Readymade garments rose by 28%, knitwear rose by 18% and that of tents, canvas and tarpaulin increased by 32%, MoM.
