ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s total exports receipts during the month of July clocked in at $1.65 billion, up 1.17 per cent year-on-year from $1.62bn last year, showed Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data released on Monday.

Barring textile and other manufactures, almost all of the groups reported an increase in exports.

Petroleum and coal exports saw a mammoth rise of 26.4pc reaching $39.3 million in July, up from $31.1m same month last year, contributed mainly by gains in petroleum crude and naphtha, which led to an increase in overall sector sales.

However, textile group — the backbone of Pakistan’s exports — posted a negative growth of 0.49pc YoY down from $1.2bn July last year to $1bn during the first month of the current fiscal year.

The exports of value-added textile sector for the first time posted negative growth after witnessing continuous growth during the previous fiscal year.

PBS data highlights negative growth in value-added textile sector exports of ready-made garments which dipped 0.46pc in value but up by 17.4pc in quantity. On the other hand, exports of knitwear edged up 7.78pc in value and 22.13pc in quantity during the first month of current fiscal year. Exports of bedwear went down 3.56pc in value.

The exports of towels posted a paltry growth of 0.51pc in July while those of cotton cloth dipped by 9.94pc in value during the period under review. In the category of primary commodities, exports of cotton yarn witnessed an increase of 7.64pc while those of yarn other than cotton recorded a rise of 73.74pc.

Exports of made-up articles, excluding towels, declined 6.9pc, whereas art, silk and synthetic textile exports dipped 16.02pc during the period under review. However, exports of tents, canvas and tarpaulin dipped over 4.73pc while proceeds from raw cotton surged by 8.7pc.

However, barring textile exports — which makes up for more than 60pc of Pakistan’s total export portfolio — the non-textile exports also increased by 3.89pc to $0.64bn in July 2018 from $0.61bn in the same period last year.

Exports of carpets and rugs during July, 2018 went up 12pc from last year. Foreign sales of sports goods went down by 5.85pc, with football exports rising by 5.59pc. Tanned leather exports, however, shrank by 21.38pc in July from a year ago.

During July, 2018, leather product exports decreased by 5.8pc, whereas, footwear exports rose by 7.41pc.

According to PBS data, exports of medical instruments and engineering goods declined by 4.96pc and 27.83pc respectively during the month under review.

In the food basket, exports of rice witnessed an increase of 2.85pc owing to higher foreign sales of both basmati and non-basmati rice, with fruit exports jumping by 54pc.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2018