Textile Exports Rise, but Mills Buy Growth with Price Cuts

Key Points:

Textile exports rose 5.55 per cent to $3.38 billion in July-August 2026, but their share of total exports slipped to 61.5 per cent
Knitwear shipped 9.2 per cent more dozens yet earned only 4.8 per cent more, as its unit value fell 4.1 per cent
Raw cotton imports jumped 38.9 per cent to $355 million, while textile machinery imports fell 37.25 per cent to $75 million
Pakistan’s apparel exports grew 8.6 per cent against Bangladesh’s 5.1 per cent, from a base about four times smaller

Pakistan earned $3.38 billion from textile exports in July and August, up 5.55 per cent on last year.

The figures, compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), appear in a textile export brief the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) issued for July-August 2026, the first two months of fiscal year 2026-27.

Textiles took 61.5 per cent of all exports, down from 62.8 per cent a year earlier. Total exports rose 7.73 per cent to $5.49 billion, yet textiles supplied $178 million of the $394 million overall gain.

Imports climbed faster, rising 14.56 per cent to $12.75 billion in the two months. The trade deficit widened 20.3 per cent to $7.25 billion.

Apparel led the basket, with knitwear and readymade garments earning $1.83 billion between them, up 8.6 per cent. Readymade garments added $99 million, the largest gain of any single line.

According to the brief, readymade garments were the healthiest line, gaining 10.9 per cent in volume and 13.6 per cent in value. Each garment also earned 2.4 per cent more than a year earlier.

Knitwear shipped 9.2 per cent more dozens but earned only 4.8 per cent more money. The biggest line, worth $1,004.6 million, saw its unit value fall 4.1 per cent.

Knitwear shipped 9.2 per cent more dozens but earned only 4.8 per cent more money.

The brief reads the fall as exporters winning orders on price. It warns that competing on price, with higher energy and input costs, squeezes margins.

Cotton yarn exports jumped 34.8 per cent to $160.7 million, a rise the brief links to higher cotton costs. Bed wear stayed flat at $563.5 million, while cotton cloth fell to $276.3 million.

Home textiles rose only 2.2 per cent to $901 million, despite being Pakistan’s traditional strength in the basket. In Bangladesh, home textiles grew 11.2 per cent in the same two months.

Raw cotton imports surged 38.9 per cent to $355 million, as the short domestic crop pushed mills to buy abroad. Mills brought in 197,852 tonnes of cotton, 37.9 per cent more by volume.

Textile machinery imports fell 37.25 per cent to $75 million, down from $119 million a year earlier. The brief notes that spinning and weaving firms are not reinvesting.

Textile imports overall rose 9.6 per cent to $1.20 billion, growing faster than textile exports. Even so, the net textile surplus widened 3.5 per cent to $2.18 billion.

Regionally, Pakistan’s apparel growth of 8.6 per cent outpaced the 5.1 per cent growth of Bangladesh’s garments. The brief cautions that Bangladesh earned $7.50 billion from garments, about four times Pakistan’s apparel total.

India’s textile and apparel exports fell 1.84 per cent, with apparel down 10.5 per cent, while Vietnam grew 3.0 per cent and Sri Lanka fell 6.7 per cent. The brief sees an opening for Pakistan as buyers shift garment orders across South Asia.

The brief notes that the comparison periods differ by country, so the regional growth rates show direction rather than a like-for-like ranking.

For the rest of the fiscal year, the association’s first priority is energy tariffs that match regional rivals. It also seeks timely sales tax and duty drawback refunds to free working capital for the peak sourcing season.

The brief calls for duty-free imports of quality cotton while the domestic crop recovers, alongside support for seed and yield programmes. It seeks long-term financing to reverse the 37 per cent fall in machinery imports and lift value addition.

The association also wants targeted buyer outreach in the United States and the European Union, with GSP+ compliance kept current, to capture apparel orders leaving India. It urges market and product diversification to restart home-textile growth.

For mills in Faisalabad, the country’s textile hub, the brief’s three warnings are local ones: a short cotton crop, orders won on price and machinery left unbought.

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