ISLAMABAD: Textile and clothing exports fell for third month in a row due to growing production costs and liquidity crunch, according to statistics issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

The export value of textile and clothing exports shrank 9.95 per cent in the first quarter (July-September) FY24 to $4.12 billion from $4.58bn in the corresponding period last year.

In September, the textile and clothing exports contracted 10.88pc to $1.36bn from $1.52bn in the same month last year.

Caretaker Commerce Minister Gohar Ejaz last month 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 was yet to be implemented.

Oil imports fell 28pc in 3MFY24 amid economic slowdown

The exports of textile and clothing 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 shrank 11.21pc in value in July-September but grew by 8.24pc in quantity, while knitwear dipped 15.83pc in value but grew 34.14pc in quantity, bedwear posted a negative growth of 10.02pc in value and but grew 1.39pc in quantity.

However, towel exports slightly increased by 2.89pc in value and 16.24pc in quantity, whereas those of cotton cloth dipped by 18.15pc in value and 7.50pc in quantity.

However, the export of raw cotton and yarn increased by over 12pc and 33.5pc during the first quarter of FY24.

The export of made-up articles — excluding towels — dipped by 5.40pc, art, silk and synthetic textile by 23.08pc and tents, canvas and tarpaulin by 8.24pc in July-September from a year ago.

The import of textile machinery declined by 75.38pc in July-September — a sign that expansion or modernisation projects were not a priority.

Furthermore, the import of raw cotton also dipped by 68.73pc in July-September from a year ago.

However, the import of synthetic fibre was increased by 21.41pc followed by 113.90pc rise in synthetic silk yarn and 42.80pc in worn clothing.

In the first quarter of FY24, the total exports dipped 3.63pc to $6.91bn this year from $7.17bn over the last year.

Imports of oil, eatables dip

Oil and eatables imports dipped 29.41pc in the first quarter of the current fiscal year to $5.35bn from $7.58bn a year ago, PBS data showed.

A noticeable decline was observed in both the quantity and value of major imports during the period under review amid the economic slowdown and a steep fall in the purchasing power of consumers.

In dollar terms, the oil import bill dipped by 28.03pc to $3.50bn during 3MFY24 from $4.86bn in the same period last year.

In rupee terms, the decline was relatively lower at 5.86pc because of massive currency devaluation and amounted to Rs1.02tr this year, compared to Rs1.08tr last year.

As a consequence, exports of petroleum products were down by 82.82pc in 3MFY24 from a year ago. The foreign sales of crude oil and petroleum products were down by 100pc and 39.43pc, respectively.

According to the PBS data, the imports of petroleum products declined by 36.55pc in value during July-September and 26.03pc in quantity.

Import of crude oil decreased by 18.36pc in quantity while the value decreased by 30.10pc.

Similarly, liquefied natural gas imports dipped by 7.36pc during July-Sept FY24 on a year-on-year basis. On the other hand, liquefied petroleum gas imports declined 7.79pc in the months under review.

The reduction in import quantities of crude oil and petroleum products is a clear indication of reduced transportation amid slowing down economic activities.

This also suggests lower capacity utilisation of local oil refineries, compared to the last year, resultantly affecting their profitability.

Food products

The food import bill also fell by over 32pc to $1.85bn in the first quarter from $2.72bn in 3MFY23 with a major drop in the arrival of palm oil and pulses.

The import of palm oil declined 33.21pc followed by a 1.45pc dip in pulses and 25.91pc in soya bean oil. However, the import of tea surged by 22.34pc, and dry fruits over 51pc during the period under review.

Machinery arrivals

Machinery imports plunged 6.29pc to $1.65bn in July-September from $1.76bn in 3MFY23 mainly due to a decline in almost all categories of machinery excluding office machinery and mobile phones.

Mobile phone imports surged by more than 89.71pc to $304.05 million, up from $160.26m. This is the single largest share of overall machinery import value in the first quarter.

Machinery imports of textile, power generating, agriculture and electrical appliances dipped during the period under review.

The transport sector’s imports tumbled 32.65pc to $405.64m in the July-September period against $602.29m in the same months last year.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2023