Pakistan’s Textile exports up by 230 percent in April-2021

May 25, 2021

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Pakistan Bureau of Statistics released the monthly trade data where textile exports for the month of April’2021 registered a growth of 231%YoY to stand at US$1.34bn marking signs of upbeat sales amid the arrival of the spring season.

Segment–wise breakup shows that both value and non-value added segments witnessed a stark increase in exports with 245%YoY and 186%YoY increase respectively. The increase in non-value added segment happened due to both yarn/cotton cloth exports rising by 165%/200%YoY as local manufacturers look to intensify efforts in capturing US textile imports from China after order cancellation from Xinjiang due to human rights violation.

International cotton prices remained buoyant in 2021 though have declined by 1% in April-2021. The recent decline in Cotton prices is due to partial correction in international markets.

Cotton Crop outlook in Pakistan

In Pakistan, the cotton crop is expected to be sowed on 1.5/4 mn acres in Sindh/Punjab this year. The Government has set the cotton production target at 10.5 million bales for the current year as compared to an actual production level of 5.6 million last year. Pertinent to note is that Cotton production hit a 30-year low-level last year. Analyst opined that cotton target set by the government for the current year is very aggressive as lower rains and low seed quality will impact the production while costly pesticides and other requirements will lead to lower sowing area. Hence, shortfall is expected to continue.