KARACHI, July 11: The Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) has finally scrapped the raw wool from the list of primary exporting commodities despite the fact that its export is still going on.

However, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) has maintained that the raw wool is present on its export commodities’ list but time is not far when this item will faces the axe as its export has now remained less than one million dollars ($0.889 million or Rs 5.3 million) in July-May 2001-2002 as compared to $0.518 million or Rs3.1 million in the same period of 2000-2001.

Since the last three to four months, the FBS has not been issuing the export figures of raw wool.

Raw wool exporters were enjoying a boom period till 1992-93 when they used to export of over Rs1 billion but with the passage of time they started losing global business.

The real disaster came in 1997-98 when exports of wool plunged to Rs293m as compared to Rs528m in 1996-97 due to lower prices offered by New Zealand coupled with depressed market that really gave a jolt to the exporters.

In 1998-99 exports further dropped to Rs134m in 1998-99 and Rs61m in 1999-2000. Pakistan has been a main exporter of wool to the United Kingdom, Belgium, India and Japan.

In the backdrop of this situation, some 30-35 small to large exporters have now moved to other trade like textile related items or become importer of wool. The international recession had forced New Zealand and other countries to cut their prices drastically, thus making Pakistani wool very expensive, and cheaper wool attracted international buyers.

“Now, there are hardly one or two parties in the wool export trade, just passing their time by sending few containers every month,” chairman Pakistan Wool and Hair Exporters Association (PWHEA), Amanullah Farouq told Dawn on Thursday.

“I think that the less than one million dollars earning in wool has forced the FBS to delist this item from the main export list,” he observed.

Pakistani wool, at the rate of one US dollar to $1.5 per kg, is still far better than wool produced by New Zealand and Australia due to its resilient characteristics but it has virtually failed to compete in international market since foreign buyers have started procuring cheaper wool from other sources.

He said some exporters have started importing wool from Saudi Arabia, Libya, Syria and Iraq in the last one year after losing hope in wool export business. “Afghan refugees have been our main buyers of imported wool for making hand spun yarn, which is used in making hand knotted carpets,” he said.

An estimated 10,000 tons of wool have been imported since the last one or two years from these destinations. These Afghans pay handsome prices to buy wool for onward supply to carpet manufacturers.

Amanullah claimed that the share of Afghani carpet in Pakistan total carpet export earnings range between 50-60 per cent while the rest is purely Pakistani made carpets.

He said now some Afghan refugees have gone back to their homeland and its negative impact particularly on carpet production in Balochistan and Peshawar could be well gauged in the total earning of carpet exports during July-June 2001-2002, that fell by 19 per cent in value ($233 million) as compared to ($289 million) and quantity wise it declined by 25 per cent.