The export volume of Pakistan’s textile industry was $1.07 billion in August, registering a decline of 15% year-on-year and 21% month-on-month, figures from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed. In the same period, China’s export of yarn, fabrics and manufactured goods showed a year-on-year growth of 51.3%, according to data from the General Administration of Customs, China.
Textile is one of the pillar industries of Pakistan and a major contributor to the country’s export. After a long period of downturn, many are wondering when it will revive? China is a major supplier of textile raw material for Pakistan, so what is the current status of textile cooperation between Chinese and Pakistani enterprises?
Bearing these questions in mind, a reporter from China Economic Net attended the 2020 Autumn Joint Exhibition of China National Textile and Apparel Council to look for answers. “We are competing to export [to Pakistan] as the supply is falling short of demand,” said Shi Qiwen, salesman from Chinese textile company Fujian Jinxing Group.
“Export orders declined dramatically in the first half of this year and they bounced in the recent two months with more orders placed than in the same period of last year. It may be the result of a long-time shutdown of business [due to Covid-19],” Shi explained to CEN reporter.
Sea transport is mainly adopted for exporting goods to Pakistan, and when the sea route is overburdened by the “back-bouncing orders”, shipping freight can rise sharply.
Shi said, “The number of containers sailed out is more than that of returned is another reason for the higher fare. And the approaching national holiday in China only catalyses such phenomenon.”
Huang Xifeng, sales manager of Litai Xingshi Holding Company, told that things got better after July. “Pakistan has been getting many orders from Turkey and other European countries, and home textile and grey cloth are their favourite. In this condition, there is a huge demand for cotton yarn, especially 40s and 60s yarn.”
As for the quantity of cotton yarn exported to Pakistan, Huang added, “Each month our company exports 10 to 20 containers of cotton yarn to Pakistan, with each carrying 20 tons of 40s yarn. While the finer 60s yarn takes longer time to manufacture and, of such kind, we could only produce 500 or 600 tons per month, an output smaller than other types. And of all the production, half is exported to Pakistan.”
Salesman of China Resources Textiles (Holdings) Co Ltd also mentioned that Pakistan is the leading import partner of their company in terms of cotton yarn of high counts. “Orders began to increase from July, and August and September have seen container shipment set out to Pakistan,” they noted, adding that one to two containers are exported per day, and each container carries 20 tons of cargo.
