Exports of Textiles have declined: apparel forum

Pakistan Apparel Forum Chairman M Jawed Bilwani said on Saturday that the slight improvement in export of value-added textiles during January 2010, which was highlighted by All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) did not seem significant when the broader picture was analyzed.

He said the spinners ‘spin a yarn’ and want everyone to believe their erroneously projected statistics which was really surprising.

“We wonder whether the spinners have an idea of statistics or do just plain mathematics,” he said.

Federal Bureau of Statistics’ data shows a sharp decline in February, 2010 over the previous month in all categories of value-added textiles; knitwear went down by 11 percent, bedwear by 14.5, towel exports declined by 26 percent, readymade garment declined by 19.5 percent and cotton cloth exports declined by 7 percent.

This happened because of excessive export of raw material, Bilwani said.

Out of the 39 percent of Pakistan’s total workforce that comes under the textile sector, the spinning sector engages 0.28 million workers while other textile sectors (value added) employ 18.1 million workers, which is 98 percent of the total workforce.

Bilwani said there was a continued decline in value-added textile exports disproving the claims of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association that there was abundant availability of yarn.

He said APTMA’s claim that the spinning industry was being forced to subsidize the value-added textile sector was also fallacious considering the realities of shortage of yarn as a result of which the exports of the value- added textile sector were declining.

“The current policy for restriction of yarn exports by MINTEX, in view of the above facts is not only realistic but completely justified,” Bilwani said.