Pakistan’s cotton yarn exports in May increased slightly by 0.31 per cent over April. But that was a 27.44 per cent fall from the same month of previous year. Total shipments between January and May were 27.38 per cent lower than the corresponding time frame of the last year. Cotton yarn was Pakistan’s most competitive industry on the global market before 2015. Nonetheless, the sector has been in big trouble, caused by cotton shortage and electricity load shedding.

Local traders predict the current declining trend cannot be reversed in the short term. Pakistan’s cotton yarn exports have been on the decline for the last couple of years owing to surging cost of production on account of rising energy prices and shortages. After surrendering a significantly big part of the international textile clothing market to its regional rivals, especially Bangladesh, since the abolition of quotas, Pakistan is now fast losing its cotton spun yarn markets to the much cheaper Vietnam.

Also the reversal of cotton policy by China has hit Pakistan’s yarn production and yarn exports. Pakistan lost its position as the largest cotton yarn supplier to China in 2014 to India. Vietnam has also enhanced its cotton yarn share in the Chinese market.