ISLAMABAD: Textile and clothing exports grew for the second consecutive month in January, according to data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.

The sector’s exports rose 10.10 per cent to $1.45 billion in January from $1.32bn in the same month last year. Month-on-month the exports increased by 3.33pc.

However, in the first seven months of FY24, textile and clothing exports shrank 2.99pc to $9.73bn from $10.03bn in the corresponding months last year. The decline was attributed to escalating production costs due to higher energy costs and a liquidity crunch.

However, it remains uncertain whether this upward trend in growth observed in the past two consecutive months will persist in the upcoming months.

A few months ago, the Ministry of Commerce announced that the government would soon offer regionally competitive energy prices to textile exporters and resolve their cash flow issues by releasing pending sales tax refunds. However, the decision has yet to be implemented.

Raw cotton shipments surge 126pc

The textile and clothing exports contracted by 14.63pc to $16.50bn in FY23. However, the total merchandise exports dipped 12.71pc to $27.54bn from $31.78bn in the preceding year.

The PBS data showed the exports of readymade garments rose 13.85pc in value in January and 28.06pc in quantity, while knitwear grew 8.39pc in value and 69.84pc in quantity. Bedwear posted a growth of 19.26pc in value and 25.63pc in quantity.

Towel exports increased by 5.41pc in value and 11.45pc in quantity, whereas those of cotton cloth by 0.46pc in value and 49.26pc in quantity.

However, raw cotton and yarn exports increased by over 126.45pc and 19.78pc in January from a year ago.

The exports of made-up articles, excluding towels, increased by 9.81pc, and tents, canvas and tarpaulin went down by 24.15pc in January from a year ago.

The import of textile machinery declined by 34.81pc in January, a sign that expansion or modernisation projects were not a priority.

At the same time, the import of synthetic fibre increased by 16.92pc, synthetic and artificial silk yarn by 13.20pc and other textile items by 33.45pc. The import of raw cotton declined by 91.11pc during the month under review. However, the import of worn clothes posted a negative growth of 5.52pc during the month under review.

In the first seven months of FY24, the total exports slightly increased by 7.87pc to $17.77bn from $16.48bn over the last year.

Oil imports

Oil imports dipped by 12.06pc in the first seven months of FY24 to $9.33bn from $10.61bn a year ago, PBS data showed.

According to the PBS data, imports of petroleum products declined by 25.94pc in value during July-January and 18.87pc in quantity. Imports of crude oil increased by 7.74pc in quantity while the value decreased by 3.96pc.

Similarly, liquefied natural gas imports increased by 4.82pc during 7MFY24 on a year-on-year basis.

Machinery imports increased by 16.61pc to $4.35bn in July-January from $3.73bn in 7MFY23, mainly due to an increase in imports of telecom equipment, including mobile phones, electrical machinery, and office machinery. All other categories of machinery recorded a negative growth.

Mobile phone imports surged by 138.08pc to $987.53 million from $414.80m. This represents the single largest share of overall machinery import value in the first seven months of FY24.

The transport sector’s imports tumbled by 25.15pc to $976.004m in the July-January period against $1.30bn in the same months last year.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2024