The export of textile goods grew by a marginal 2pc to $1.08bn in April, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

However, the value-added textile segment managed to grow by an impressive 11pc on a year-on-year (YoY) basis to $607mn. This is mainly attributable to a 4pc yearly depreciation of the rupee and the country’s enhanced market access to the European Union region.

The value-added sector benefitted from higher exports of knitwear, bedwear and garments. During the month, garment exports rose 15pc to $174m due to a 16pc increase in realised prices, despite a 1pc reduction in volumes. Similarly, knitwear exports went up 9pc to $190.7m as prices rose by 22.6pc.

Meanwhile, bedwear exports jumped 11pc to $177.5m, as a 9.6pc reduction in prices corresponded with a 22.8pc growth in sales volumes.

The basic textile segment continued its poor run and shrank by 9pc to $341m, led by an 8pc decline in cotton yarn exports

On the flip side, the basic textile segment continued its poor run and shrank by 9pc YoY to $341m, led by an 8pc decline in cotton yarn exports.

On a sequential basis, textile exports displayed an encouraging growth of 5pc in April, whereas value-added exports went up 10pc. However, basic textile exports shrank 3pc over the previous month.

Cumulatively in the first 10 months of this fiscal, textile exports dropped by 1pc to $11.3bn over the same period last year. While value-added textile exports grew by 5pc to $6.1bn, this was offset by a sharp 10pc decline in basic textile exports to $3.8bn.

Readymade garments continued to be the outperformer in terms of export performance, which highlights the product category’s bright prospects.

Yarn exports (in volumes) displayed an encouraging growth of 13pc YoY, but an 18.6pc decline in average prices led the dollar-valued export figure to fall 8pc to $123.7m. Similarly, cotton cloth volumes improved by 10pc but the value of the exports went down owing to a 12.9pc reduction in average prices.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, May 25th, 2015

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