Textile exports surge to record high of $9.4bn in 1HFY22

January 18, 2022 (MLN): Pakistan’s textile exports were recorded at $1.62 billion during December 2021, depicting an upsurge of 16% YoY but down by 6.5% MoM, touching a historic high of $9.38bn, up by 26.05% YoY during the first half of the current fiscal year i.e., July-Dec FY22, showed data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The notable year-on-year increase in the said exports is due to the strong pent-up demand ahead of the summer season in the West while other factors include competitive pricing made possible by extended government incentives, a brewing trade war between US and China, a research report by Intermarket Securities (IMS) said.

In the value-added segment, knitwear, bed-wear, readymade garments and towels registered an upsurge of 35%, 19%, 23% and 17.5% to $2.50bn, $1.66bn, $1.83bn and $523mn during July-December FY22 compared to the corresponding period last year.  

The demand for Pakistan’s textile exports is likely to remain strong due to the continued rerouting of orders out of China and regional countries. The capital investment by various textile exporters is also an indication of strong order flows (machinery imports up 50% YoY), while exports’ competitiveness is enhanced by the recent 10.45% depreciation of the rupee against the US Dollar in the FY22 to date, Abdul Ghani Mianoor, an analyst at IMS said.

Meanwhile, the country exported food commodities worth $2.48bn during 6MFY22, registering a surge of 22.3% YoY from $2.03bn in 1HFY21.

Commodity-wise, rice remained the primary source of foreign exchange earnings during the review period as its exports were valued at $1.07bn, up by 10.7% YoY. The export of fish & fish preparations inched up by 3.2% YoY to stand at $201mn.

The export volume of meat and meat preparations clocked in at $163mn, up by only 1%.

During 1HFY22, the export of petroleum products posted a growth of 32% to $122mn against $92.6 recorded in the corresponding period last year. It was mainly led by imports of petroleum crude, standing at $106mn.

Going into details made available by PBS, the other manufactures group observed a 13.6% YoY during the period to $1.92bn. under this group, the trade value of sports goods stood at $164mn while the country earned $319mn through the export of leather manufactures.

Copyright Mettis Link News