Value-added textile exports up in July-Jan; machinery imports soar

KARACHI: Value-added textile sector appears to start reflecting a positive vibe on the government export incentives package as its exports were recorded upward in the first seven months of the current fiscal year of 2016/17, official data showed on Thursday.

Value-added textile sector, also known as a billion-dollar group for fetching one billion dollars plus export revenue, generally showed recovery with exports of bedwear up 5.07 percent to $1.225 billion and readymade garments rising 4.17 percent to $1.301 billion in the July-January period of 2016/17.

Knitwear exports remained almost flat at $1.393 billion during this period as compared to $1.398 billion a year ago, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). 

Overall, textile sector earned the country $7.224 billion in export revenue, down 1.54 percent over the previous fiscal year.   In January, textile exports increased 2.73 percent to $1.064 billion over the preceding month, but decreased 1.3 percent over the same month a year earlier. 

The government unveiled Rs180 billion worth of incentives package for export-oriented sectors, mainly textile industry, which accounts for more than half of the annual exports from the country. The package comprises of withdrawal and concessions on customs duty and sales tax on import of cotton and machinery. 

In July-January 2016/17, food exports slid 9.28 percent to $2.023 billion as compared to the corresponding period of 2015/16. Major downward trend was recorded in exports of rice (14.62pc to $876 million), vegetables (20.22pc to $81.494 million) and meat and meat preparations (21.65pc to $122.499 million). Fruits export was slightly up 0.76 percent to $259.174 million. 

The PBS registered the country’s total exports at $11.685 billion for the period under review, down a little over three percent.

In July-January, imports continued to surge and amounted to $29.100 billion, up 13.6 percent. Import bill of machinery was the heaviest, accounting for almost a quarter of gross imports during the seven months.

Machinery group imports soared 42.36 percent to $6.846 billion in the period under review. Alone power generation machinery imports amounted to $1.950 billion, depicting a 90 percent increase over the previous year. Imports of electric machinery and appliances also rose 16.14 percent to $1.227 billion.  In January, machinery imports increased 50.17 percent to $1.180 billion over the same month a year ago and rose 14.24 percent over December 2016. 

Currently, a number of power projects are at the commissioning and development stages. Both local and foreign investors are setting up electricity generation plants to meet the energy shortfall in the country, which is hovering around 5,000 megawatts. Energy projects are also an integral component of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects that include infrastructure developments.   The second major import bill was of petroleum products. Petroleum products import climbed 16 percent to $5.814 billion in the July-January period of 2016/17. Import of liquefied natural gas more than doubled to $602.234 million during this period. Liquefied petroleum gas import also swelled 54 percent to $141.132 million.

Imports of fertiliser, insecticides and other agricultural inputs remained flat at $4.216 billion during the seven-month period under review.     

Food imports, however, swelled 11.68 percent to $3.444 billion. Of them, palm oil import stood at $1.015 billion.    The country also imported $1.154 billion worth of iron and steel in the July-January period of 2016/17, almost half of the metal group’s total imports of $2.356 billion.

Transport import also increased 15.53 percent to $1.749 billion. Motorcycle import fell 32.13 percent, while car import rose 13.79 percent.