ISLAMABAD: The country’s textile group exports declined by 11.32 percent on month-on-month basis and remained $1.471 billion in July 2021 compared to $1.658 billion in June 2021, says the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The exports and imports data released by the PBS revealed that textile group exports have witnessed a growth of 15.61 percent on year-on-year basis and remained $1.471 billion in July 2021 compared to $1.272 billion in July 2020.
Cotton yarn exports decreased by 25.68 percent during July 2021 and remained at $89.87 million compared to $120.931 million during June 2021 and increased by 48.49 percent when compared to $60.52 million during the same month of last year.
Raw cotton exports witnessed 100 percent decline on month-on-month basis.
Petroleum group imports witnessed an increase of 76.79 percent as it reached $1.330 billion in July 2021 compared to $752.46 million during July 2020 and registered 9.85 percent negative growth when compared to $1.475 billion in June 2021.
Textiles: is SBP footing the bill for export growth?
Construction machinery imports have witnessed a massive decline of 33.03 percent during the July 2021 and remained at $10.821 million compared to $16.157 million during June 2021; however, it registered 10.31 percent growth when compared to $9.810 million during July 2020. The country’s exports during July, 2021 were $2.340 billion (provisional) as compared to $ 2.728 billion (provisional) in June 2021 showing a decrease of 14.22 percent but increased by 16.94 percent as compared to $2.001 billion in July 2020.
The country’s imports during July 2021 were $5.601 billion (provisional) as compared to $6.352 billion (provisional) in June 2021, showing a decrease of 11.82 percent but increased by 52.45 percent as compared to $3.674 billion in July 2020.
The country’s trade deficit widened by 94.92 percent from $1.673 billion in July 2020 to $3.261 billion in July 2021, but narrowed by 10.02 percent, when compared to $3.624 billion in June 2021.
Main commodities of exports during July 2021 were knitwear (Rs62,681 million), readymade garments Rs48,070 million, bed wear (Rs42,030 million), cotton cloth (Rs28,639 million), cotton yarn (Rs14,344 million), rice, others (Rs12,510 million), towels (Rs12,420 million), made-up articles (excl towels and bed wear (Rs10,707 million), Basmati rice (Rs9,785 million), and fruits (Rs7,736 million).
Main commodities of imports during July 2021 were petroleum products (Rs103,337 million), petroleum crude (Rs60,077 million), natural gas, liquefied (Rs43,359 million), palm oil (Rs40,542 million), plastic materials (Rs37,685 million), iron and steel Rs37,488 million, medicinal products Rs37,367 million, electrical machinery and apparatus (Rs29,205 million), power generating machinery (Rs26,308 million), and iron and steel scrap (Rs21,302 million).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021