Pakistan's textile exports register fall for 8th straight month

• 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.

Quantitative sales of rice abroad also declined by 46.8% in May. Basmati rice exports increased by 11.5% to $66.8 million during the month, while other rice exports decreased by 31.6% to $112.8 million compared to the corresponding month's sales.

Exports of fish and fish preparations increased by 25% to $50.6 million, with volumetric sales also rising by 33%. Sugar exports in May 2023 reduced by 95.7% to $0.87 million against $20.26 million in April 2023.

Sports goods exports in May 2023 over the corresponding month reduced by 3.3% to $31.7 million, of which football exports increased by 21.8% to $21.3 million. Surgical goods exports declined 4.1% to $31 million, and chemicals and pharmaceuticals went up by 5.3% to $128.6 million.

Cement exports, however, increased by 145.9% to $18.1 million in May 2023 against $7.36 million in May 2022.

Its volumetric sales during the month also increased 208% over the corresponding month of last year.

In May 2023, imports within the petroleum group experienced a notable decrease, declining by 46.8% compared to the same month last year, with a value of $1.41 billion, as reported by the latest data. The figure is in contrast to the $2.64 billion recorded in May 2022.

However, imports within the petroleum group showed a 58% increase when compared to the previous month.

The import of crude oil dropped by 28.6% to $384.8 million, petroleum products by 59.3% to $599.1 million, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 38.2% to $260.8 million. On the other hand, imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) increased by 26.2% to $63 million compared to imports in May 2022.

In comparison to May 2022, imports of petroleum products in May 2023 experienced a significant increase of 91.7%, while crude oil imports rose by 38.9%, LNG by 39.5%, and LPG imports increased by 45.8%.

Moving on to the machinery group imports in May 2023, they witnessed a YoY decline of 29.6%, totalling $550.3 million, compared to $781.1 million in May 2022. In April 2023, machinery imports were recorded at $352.2 million.

Among the subcategories, imports of textile machinery decreased by 66.6% to $15.2 million, power generation machinery by 66.5% to $38.5 million, agriculture machinery by 66% to $2.52 million, construction and mining machinery by 1.9% to $8.9 million, and telecom machinery imports reduced by 55.8% to $81 million. However, imports of electrical machinery increased by 24.5%, amounting to $184.3 million.

Imports of mobile sets experienced a substantial decline of 68.5%, reaching $43.2 million compared to $137.2 million in the same month of the previous year. However, compared to the previous month, when mobile set imports were recorded at $10.6 million, imports increased significantly by 308%.

Within the transport sector, which includes cars, vehicles, and parts, imports declined by 78% YoY in May 2023, totalling $73.9 million. In the same month last year, imports amounted to $338 million.

Over the course of 11 months, the total imports in the transport sector reached $1.67 billion, reflecting a decrease of 58.9% compared to the previous year's figure of $4.1 billion.

Originally published in The News