All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) doing its homework before committing to the government to raise the textile exports, which suffered in the past because of various reasons, including power shortage, high markup and limited market access.

According SM Tanveer, chairman of Aptma, Pakistan is all set to increase its textile exports by three billion dollars this year with textile sector having improved its production capacities over the last few years.

He added various sectors of the textiles have started achieving peak since the start of this century. The main subsectors include cotton yarn, cotton fabric, knitwear, readymade garments, towels and bed wear and synthetic fabrics.

Tanveer said Pakistan exported 2,536 million square metres of fabric in 2005-06, while its cotton fabric exports in 2012-13 were only 2,079 million square metres. This indicated a loss of 546 million square metres of fabric during the last seven years. This decline was partly due to lower utilisation of capacities.

With China opting out of basic textiles and demand for Pakistani fabric in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia and China on the rise, Aptma expects the cotton fabric exports would register an uptick. Even if the exports level of 2005-06 is achieved, they would add $707 million in fabric exports at current average prices.

Chairman Aptma Punjab said that similarly Pakistan exported 365 million kilogrammes of bed wear in 2005-06. The quantity, he added, fell to 264 million kg in 2012-13. They are sure to bring bed wear exports up to 468 million kg on the back of the grant of GSP Plus status in January this year,” he said.

In 2000-01, Pakistan exported 41 million dozens of readymade garments. Last year (2012-13), they managed to export only 28 million dozens of readymade garments. The new opportunity presented by the European Union would add 4,894 million dozens this year.

While the towels exports rose to 192 million kg in 2009-10 but fell to 172 million tonnes in 2012-13 as the exporters were forced to curtail production due to power shortages in the last two years.

He said with 24/7 power availability, Aptma expects that towel sector would achieve a new peak this year. However, he added, even if 2009-10 export in quantity is achieved it would add further $93 million in textile exports.

In the year 2010-11 Pakistan exported 132 million dozens of knitwear, which was reduced to 105 million tonnes in 2012-13. The exports suffered as the textile processing sector was denied gas, which weighed down the supply of processed fabric for the knitwear sector.

Now the government under an arrangement has assured some gas supplies to the processing sector, which will resolve the issue of shortage of raw materials. An additional 27 million dozens of knitwear would add $68 million in textile exports this year.

The textile mills leader said that Pakistan reached a peak of exporting 84,300 square metres of synthetic fabric in 2000-01. He said exports of synthetic fabric in 2012-13 were 312,000 square metres only. The demand for this type of fabric is on the rise in all major garment exporting countries and hopes that the peak attained in 2000-01 will be attained in 2013-14.

Pakistan’s textile exports can even increase by four billion dollars if the markets in the United States and Canada respond as positively as those of EU and Asian countries.