Export of cotton fabrics

Export of cotton fabrics: The global trade in woven fabrics can be classified into two broad categories, cotton and blended fabrics and synthetic and artificial fabrics, commonly referred to as manmade fabric. Asia is fast emerging as major source of exports, especially of textiles, to the USA, EU and other countries of the world. Pakistan has emerged as one of the major cotton textile product suppliers in the world market. Pakistan's textile products have become less competitive in the international market owing to tough competition from Bangladesh, India and China.

Export of cotton fabrics decreased from 2.63 billion sq meters worth US $ 2.11 billion in 2005-06 to 1.75 billion sq meters worth US $ 1.80 billion in 2009-10, thus showing decline of 15% in terms of value. Table-3 shows export of cotton fabrics. About 40% of the fabric exported from Pakistan is in unprocessed form. Dyed fabric is only 20% of the total fabric exports. Export of fabrics in unprocessed fabric results in low unit value realization. Major markets for Pakistan's fabric are Turkey, Spain, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Germany, USA, Italy and China. Countrywise export of cotton fabrics from Pakistan is given in Table-4.