Pakistani textile exporters unable to firm up its exports in US market

In the US, Pakistani textile exporters are losing their share to other exporting countries such as India, Vietnam and other competitors. Although in the US market the overall import demand for textiles and apparel increased during July-September 2015, Pakistan had not been able to firm up its exports, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its first quarterly review released a day ago.

It said that following the trend in previous years, the demand for cotton textile, which constitutes the bulk of Pakistan’s exports, continued to decline in the US market.

The market for manmade fiber products is expanding at a fast pace, but Pakistan has failed to diversify its product range accordingly. Pakistan has now begun to lose its share even in the cotton apparel market of the US.

The SBP said that the textile exports continued to face subdued global demand. The cloth manufacturing progressed slowly due to depressed demand from the European market, it said.

In the yarn segment, the report said that availability of cheaper yarn from India posed serious challenges to local manufacturers. However, the situation is expected to improve, as the government has imposed 10 percent duty on yarn imports from November 1, 2015.

The textile exports registered a decline of 5.6 percent during the first quarter of 2015/16 mainly due to shrinking global demand. The overall imports of textile and clothing of the European Union declined sharply during the period under review

In the case of clothing, all major countries faced decline in exports to the EU markets, except Pakistan and Bangladesh. These two countries enjoy duty-free access to this market: Pakistan in terms of GSP+ and Bangladesh via Everything-But-Arms (EBA), the SBP said.

However, according to the central bank, Pakistan had been able to increase its share in the EU and US markets. Share of Pakistan in the EU and US import markets has increased to 0.37 percent and 0.17 percent, respectively, during July-September 2015 as compared to 0.34 percent and 0.16 percent in the same period last year.

The overall exports of Pakistan registered a decline of 14 percent during the period under review as compared to the decline of 10.4 percent due to global factors.