Pakistan's textile exports rise in July-May FY'14

01 Jul '14

2 min read

The exports of textiles and garments from Pakistan increased by 5.96 percent year-on-year to US$ 12.626 billion in the first eleven months of fiscal year 2013-14, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

During July-May 2013-14, the exports of cotton cloth fetched $2.576 billion, showing a growth of 4.46 percent over exports worth $2.466 billion made during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Knitwear exports jumped 11.35 percent year-on-year to $2.052 billion during the eleven-month period, while woven garment exports shot up by 7.85 percent to $1.768 billion, as per the data.

Meanwhile, the value of textile machinery imports made by Pakistan during the period under review surged up by 57.63 percent year-on-year to $548.997 million, which shows that enterprises have started investing in new machinery, especially after the country attained European Union’s Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP Plus) status from the beginning of this year.

The import of synthetic fibre by Pakistan increased by 9.30 percent year-on-year to $395.14 million, whereas imports of synthetic and artificial silk yarn witnessed a growth of 14.77 percent to $571.807 million.

Last week, Pakistan’s Minister of Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan revealed that the GSP Plus spurred the growth of Pakistan’s textile and apparel exports to the European Union in the first two months of 2014.

In January-February 2014, the exports of textiles and apparel from Pakistan to the EU jumped by 30.68 percent to $446.91 million, as against exports of $342 million made during the corresponding period of last year, the sector-wise trade analysis released by the Ministry of Commerce showed.

Likewise, home textiles exports from Pakistan to the EU showed a sharp rise of 28.15 percent to $274.47 million during the two-month period, compared to exports of $214.18 million in the same period of 2013.

During the same period, Pakistan’s carpet exports grew by 12.79 percent to $9.88 million, while the figure was $8.76 million in the comparable period of last year.

Under its GSP Plus scheme, the EU granted duty-free access to Pakistani textiles for a period of 10 years. However, the continuation of the scheme is subject to periodical reviews to find out whether Pakistan is making progress on more than two dozen conventions of the United Nations related to human rights, labour rights, gender rights and freedom of expression.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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