Textile exports fall 16% in December

ISLAMABAD: The country has witnessed a decline in textile exports by 16.47% year-on-year to $1.35 billion in December 2022, whereas, it dipped by 6% this month as compared to November 2022, ARY News reported on Sunday.

On a year-on-year basis, the textile exports stood at $1.62 billion in December of the previous fiscal year.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data, the exports of the textile industry dropped 7.07% from July to December, whereas, the cotton yarn exports were fallen by 100% last month.

The cotton yarn exports were standing at $1.77 million in the previous fiscal year.

READ: APTMA WRITES TO PM SHEHBAZ OVER TEXTILE INDUSTRY ISSUES

The decline was witnessed at a time when the federal government increased focus on exports to earn more foreign exchange but the textile sector’s performance remained unimpressive in the global markets.

Last month, the closure of 150 textile mills raised the alarm bell regarding the severe crisis in the textile sector due to skyrocketing energy prices.

According to the details, a total of 150 spinning and weaving textile mills in the country were closed in the last five months due to an increase in the energy crisis in Pakistan, which results in the unemployment of at least 2 million people.

While criticising the economic strategy of the current government the textile mill owners said that the production cost of the industry has increased by 100% under the current government.

They complained about the increase in energy prices, saying “in the previous govt era, the electricity rates were Rs18, which have now increased to Rs36, petrol hiked from Rs150 to Rs245 per litre, whereas, gas was not available to the industries and letters to credit (LCs) are not opening for import which created a shortage of raw materials.