Islamabad November 17 2022: The exports of textile commodities decreased by 15.23 percent during the month of October 2022 as compared to the corresponding month of last year.
Textile exports recorded at $1,357 million, the lowest number since May 2021, against exports of $1,600 million in October 2022 on inventory pileup in export destination amid slow down in consumer spending.
Walmart, Target, Macy’s and Kohl’s are among retailers that have recently said they are canceling some orders to better balance inventory levels, a replay of a strategy used at the start of the pandemic.
Other steps retailers are using to clear inventories as spending has slowed on some non-discretionary categories are employing markdowns and packing away products for the following year. The elevated inventory levels also reflect intentional over-buying to mitigate shortages and the easing of supply chain constraints.
“I hesitate to call it a bloodbath, but it’s going to be ugly in terms of the amount of discounting and markdowns,” said Urban Outfitters chief executive Richard Hayne on the company’s earnings call last month. Retailers are faced with too much product “across the board”, he warned.
On month-on-month (MoM) basis the textile exports went down by 11.13 percent in October 2022 when compared to the exports of $1,527 million in September 2022, according to the PBS data.
The textile commodities that witnessed negative growth in trade included cotton yarn, the exports of which declined by 53.79 percent year on year, from $106 million to $49 million.
The other commodities that witnessed decline in trade included cotton cloth, the exports of which decline by 7.65 percent year on year to $170 million from $184 million and knit wear the trade of which decreased by 14.32 percent year on year, from $457 million to $391 million.
Likewise, on year on year basis the exports of tents, canvas and tarpaulin decreased by 21.22, from $9.6 million to $7.6 million, readymade garments by 7.36 percent, from $297 million to $275 million and towels by 3.04 percent, from $82.1 million to $79.6 million
On year on year basis, the exports of cotton (carded or combed) declined by 100 percent, from $0.069 million to $0 million, yarn (other than cotton yarn) by 39.3 percent, from $4.8 million to $2.9 million, bedwear by 24.57 percent from $287 million to $217 million, madeup articles (excluding towels, bedwear) by 18.71 percent, from $71.1 million to $57.8 million, while the exports of all other textile materials went down by 2.08 percent, from $65.5 million to $64.2 million.
The textile commodities that contributed in trade growth included raw cotton the exports of which increased by 100 percent on year on year basis to $3.9 million during the month while Art, silk and synthetic textile increased by 7.3 percent on year on year basis from $35.3 million to $37.9 million
The exports of textile commodities decreased by 1.34 percent during the first four months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The textile exports were recorded at $5,941 million in July-October (FY2022-23) against the exports of $6,021 million in July-October (FY2021-22), showing fall of 1.34 percent, according to the latest data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday.
It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandize exports from the country witnessed an increase of 1.09 percent during the first four months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The overall exports from the country were recorded at $9.563 billion during July-October (2022-23) against the exports of $9.460 billion recorded during July-October (2021-22).
Based on the data, the trade deficit during the period July to October 2022 was recorded at $11.530 billion, showing a decrease of 26.2 percent over the deficit of $15.564 billion recorded during the same period last year, the PBS data revealed.
