ISLAMABAD, Jan 29: Pakistan's export of textile manufactures declined by 13.70pc to $606.871 million in December 2004 as against $703.180 million over the same month of the last year.
Official figures released here on Saturday by Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) showed that export of cotton yarn declined by 34.72pc during December 2004 over the same month of the last year; cotton cloth by 19.86pc; and knitwear by 4.60pc.
Export of readymade garments declined by 12.67pc; tents, canvas and tarpulin by 53.50pc; and art, silk and synthetic textile by 23.46pc during the month under review over the same month of last year.
The value of total textile manufactures during the first half year of the current fiscal year declined by 2.50pc to $3.736 billion compared to $3.831 billion the same period of the last year.
Further analysis of the six months export data of textile manufactures showed that export of cotton yarn declined by 13.37pc; bed wear by 23.01pc; readymade garments by 20.30pc; tents, canvas and tarpulin by 46pc; art, silk and synthetic textile by 45.55pc during July-December period over the same period of the last year.
The export figures further showed that export of cotton cloth, knitwear, towels and made-up articles registered growth during the period under review over the corresponding period of last year.
The export of cotton cloth increased by 2.24pc; knitwear by 41.32pc; towels by 20.19pc and made-up articles by 13.01pc during the first six months of the current fiscal year over the same period of last year.
The actual impact of the free quota regime on Pakistan's exportable products would be assessed during the next few months particularly in the garment sector.
Further analysis of the export figures showed that export of primary commodities during the July-December period increased by 7.16pc; sports good exports fell by 10.92pc; leather tanned export increased by 15.54pc; export of leather manufactures declined by 12.77pc; export of footwear increased by 2.98pc; export of surgical goods and medical instruments declined by 3.97pc; export of chemicals and pharmaceutical products increase by 11.25pc and export of engineering goods increased by 18.85pc over the same period of the last year.
On the other hand, massive growth in imports of four categories of items during the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year increased the trade deficit by 233.07pc to $2.409 billion as against $0.723 billion over the same period of the last year.
The official figures showed that import of metal group increased by 49.16pc during the period under review as against the same period of the last year; petroleum group increased by 37.92pc.
Import of the agricultural and other chemicals group rose by 37.49pc during the first six months this year over the same period of the last year; machinery group by 33.59pc; textile group by 24.79pc and food group by 17.15pc during the period under review over the same period of the last year.
The statistics further showed that in the metal group, the import of iron and steel scrap increased by 79.41pc, iron and steel by (48.86pc) and aluminium wrought by (13.10pc) during the period under review.
In the Petroleum Group, the import of petroleum crude increased by 34.80pc and petroleum products by 40.40pc during the July-Dec period.
In the Agriculture and other chemical group, import of manufactured fertilizer rose by (29.49pc), insecticide (48.13pc), plastic materials (49.69pc). However, import of medicinal products declined by 5.51pc during the period under review over the same period of last year.
Further analysis showed that the increase in the import of machinery group was attributed to a significant rise in the import of textile, construction and mining machinery. The import of textile machinery rose by (69.93pc), construction and mining machinery (42.08pc), agriculture machinery and implements (66.90pc), office machine including data processing equipment (11.27pc), and power generating machinery (19.44pc) during the months under review.