KARACHI: Country’s overall textile exports clocked in at $1.17 billion in November 2019, up 7.03 percent as against exports of $1.09 billion in the same month last year as all groups of the sector witnessed growth.
According to the data issued by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), textile sector exports stood at $5.76 billion in five months (July-November 2019), up 4.68 percent compared with $5.5 billion in the corresponding period last year.
“Going forward, we highlight implementation on China Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA II), as a key catalyst in supporting future export volumes as it includes multitude of positives such as concessionary tariff lines and greater market access,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.
Moreover, with the government now scrapping the flawed mechanism of bonds to clear refund payments and instead opting to make cash payments, exporters expect liquidity and working capital requirement for the sector to improve going forward.
“Growth overall in textile exports has remained stagnant in recent months and it remains to be seen whether the China-Pak FTA II can provide some fresh impetus to the sector,” an analyst at JS Global Capital said.
In the value added sector, readymade garments fetched $250.65 million in November, up 18.13 percent as against $212.17 million in November last year. Knitwear exports surged 5.76 percent to $266.85 million; bedwear exports increased 0.39 percent to $195.45 million, and towels exports stood at $65.37 million in November 2019, up1.05 percent as against exports of $64.69 million last year.
Raw cotton exports stood at $2.06 million up 24.91 percent on yearly basis, while cotton yarn exports surged 23.9 percent to $98.5 million in November 2019.
“Also with the announced enhancement in threshold of EFS and LTFF for export sector by a further Rs100 billion, we believe implementation on this enhanced facility will provide much needed financial assistance to the sector in the prevailing high interest rate scenario, thereby paving the way for further accretion in country’s exports,” Pearl Securities report said.
On the other hand, food group exports surged 16.3 percent to $397.708 million in November 2019. Food group including rice, fruits, vegetables, meat, sugar etc., surged 16.2 percent to $1.75 billion in five months.
The country also recorded petroleum crude exports worth $31.28 million in November 2019, which is 34.9 percent higher than the exports worth $23.18 million in October 2019. There was no crude export in November 2018.
Meanwhile, petroleum products imports during November 2019 clocked in at $930.4 million, down 31.48 percent from $1.35 billion recorded in November last year. During five months (July-November 2019), petroleum products imports were recorded at $5.11 billion, down 21.79 percent as against imports of $6.53 billion in the corresponding period last year.