ISLAMABAD: Paki­stan’s exports of non-textile products, except sugar and meat, fell 7.91 per cent to $10.36 billion in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year as against $11.25bn over the corresponding period of last year.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has compiled data indicating a stagnant trend in export proceeds from the non-textile sector since the beginning of the current fiscal year. This can be attributed to demand contraction in the buyers’ market.

On a year-on-year basis, exports showed no growth since September 2022, the PBS reported.

Since February, when the government permitted sugar exports, there has been a significant surge in its export volume. As a consequence, the retail price of the sweetener has soared to Rs140 per kg in the local market.

Pakistan exported 214,789 tonnes of sugar from February to May in FY23, compared to no foreign sales during the same period last year. Additionally, meat and its products, another food item, experienced a notable growth of 24pc in the 11 months of FY23 compared to the previous year.

Contrary to this, the export of rice dipped 12.05pc in value and 22.30pc in quantity in 11MFY23 from a year ago. The decline was observed in the export of basmati and non-basmati rice during the period under review.

In the value-added leather sector, exports of leather garments fell year-on-year by 7.67pc in 11MFY23. The exports of raw leather also decreased by 19.48pc.

The cement exports dipped by 20.18pc during the 11 months this year from a year ago.

Pakistan is one of the main suppliers of global surgical instruments. However, these instruments are re-marketed in Western countries by famous brands. As a result, the export value of these products remains very negligible. The export of surgical instruments rose 6.03pc in 11MFY23 over the same period last year.

The exports of pharmaceutical products also grew by 25.16pc during the months under review. The export of footwear increased by 13.20pc in 11MFY23 mainly due to an upsurge in the export of leather footwear and canvas footwear.

The export of carpets dipped by 10.45pc while that of sports goods grew by 12.75pc in 11MFY23. The sales of footballs were up 28.19pc. Pakistan was the official football supplier to the FIFA World Cup held in Doha, Qatar in November 2022.

PBS data showed the export of engineering goods posted growth of 6.74pc in 11MFY23 from a year ago. However, the export of electrical fans dipped by 4.52pc during the months under review.

The export of jewellery declined 42.62pc during the period under review and that of gems posted a negative growth of 0.34pc.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2023