Textile exports from Pakistan have declined during the first ten months of the current financial year that began on July 1, 2011.

 

“During the July-April 2011-12 period, Pakistan’s textile exports have declined by 22.3 percent year-on-year in volume and 9.6 percent year-on-year in value terms,” Pakistan Apparel Forum (PAF) Chairman, Mr. Jawed Bilwani, told fibre2fashion. 

 

Compared to textile exports worth Pk Rs. 11.219 billion registered in July-April 2010-11, Pakistan exported textiles worth Rs. 10.143 billion during the same period of current fiscal.

 

Mr. Bilwani attributes the decrease in textile exports to the continuous increase in the prices of utilities and the problem of load shedding.

 

“While textile exports from Pakistan are on a decline, exports from Bangladesh, India and China are on the increase. If the problem is from the buyers side, then it should impact all the countries, not only Pakistan,” says Mr. Bilwani. 

 

“This means, either our cost of production is more or the supply of utilities is not enough,” he argues.

 

“The Government should, at least for the export sector, keep the prices of utilities stable for a minimum of one year, instead of changing it very frequently,” he suggests. 

 

“High volatility in yarn prices is another reason for increase in the cost of production and thereby, a decline in exports. Yarn price stayed at 62 cents for a fortnight, but then it increased to 75 cents. The fluctuation is in the range of 10-15 percent,” he avers.