Textile industry in Pakistan

Last updated March 04, 2024

The textile industry is the largest manufacturing industry in Pakistan and nearly 25 million people work in this industry.^[1]^[2] Pakistan is the eighth largest exporter of textile commodities in Asia. Textile sector contributes 8.5% to the GDP of Pakistan.^[3]

In addition, the sector employs about 45% of the total labor force in the country (and 38% of the manufacturing workers). Pakistan is the fourth largest producer of cotton with the third largest spinning capacity in Asia after China and India and contributes 5% to the global spinning capacity.^[4] At present, there are 1,221 ginning units, 442 spinning units, 124 large spinning units and 425 small units which produce textile.^[2]

The Government of Pakistan has established a ministry division, Ministry of Textile Industry division, to administer the textile industry. In the textile industry alone, it is estimated that around 700,000 individuals have lost their jobs due to the super floods last year and the ongoing energy and foreign exchange crisis this year.^[5]

History

The origin of the Indian textiles is thought to be the Indus Valley civilization, situated in modern Pakistan, where people used homespun cotton to weave garments. Historically, the Indus valley region engaged in significant trade with the rest of the world. The silk from the region, for example, is known to have been popular in Rome, Egypt, Britain, and Indonesia.^[6]

Significance

Textile Sector of Pakistan is the heart and soul of this nation since Independence. It is the largest Manufacturing Industry in Pakistan. Export of $3.5 billion (6.5% of total exported cotton in world) in 2017-2018. Pakistan is the eighth largest exporter of textile commodities in Asia. Contribution in economy is equal to approx. 8.5% of total GDP. Textile Sector employs about 45% of the total Labor force in the country. In the year 2017-18 Exports of textile sector grew by $4.4 billion. Pakistan is also third largest consumer of Cotton in the World. Total Textile mills are 464 in Pakistan out of which five percent are on the PSX. Textile has a total processing capacity of 5.2 billion square meters. International brands working in Pakistan with local textile mills are namely; H&M, Levis, Nike, Adidas, Puma, Target etc. Textile businesses are concentrated in Karachi with a share of 38% and 28% in Faisalabad. Out of 464, 316 textile units in Punjab, 116 in Sindh. Pakistan's exports are under threat mainly from regional competitors because the governments of these countries support their textile industry a lot as compared to Pakistan's government. Rs.185 million has been approved in Pakistan for the Export Development Fund for the development of the textile sector. The textile industry provides 40% of the bank credit in Pakistan.

In the 1950s, textile manufacturing emerged as a central part of Pakistan's industrialization, shortly following independence from the British rule in the South Asia. In 1974, the Pakistan government established the Cotton Export Corporation of Pakistan (CEC). The CEC served as a barrier to private manufacturers from participating in international trade. However, in the late 1980s, the role of the CEC diminished and by 1988-89, private manufacturers were able to buy cotton from ginners and sell in both domestic and foreign markets. Between 1947 and 2000, the number of textile mills in Pakistan increased from three to six hundred. In the same time period, spindles increased from 177,000 to 805 million.^[7]

There are 423 textile industries working in the country. Pakistan has a supply base for almost all man-made and natural yarns and fabrics, including cotton, rayon and others. This abundance of raw material is a big advantage for Pakistan due to its beneficial impact on cost and operational lead time.

Production

There are six primary sectors of the textile production in Pakistan:^[4]

Cotton is the largest segment of textile production. Other fibers produced include synthetic fiber, filament yarn, art silk, wool, and jute.^[8]

Cotton: Cotton spinning is perhaps the most important segment in the Pakistan textile industry with 521 units installed and operational.^[8]
Synthetic fibers: Within synthetic fibers, nylon, polyester, acrylic, and polyolefin dominate the market. There are currently five major producers of synthetic fibers in Pakistan, with a total capacity of 636,000 tons per annum.^[8]
Filament yarn: Three types of filament yarn are produced in Pakistan. These are acetate rayon yarn, polyester filament yarn, and nylon filament yarn. There are currently about six units in the country.^[8]
Artificial Silk: This fiber resembles silk but costs less to produce. There are about 90,000 looms in the country located mainly in Karachi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, and Jalapur Jattan, as well as some in FATA.^[8]
Wool: The main products manufactured from wool include woolen yarn, acrylic yarn, fabrics, shawls, blankets, and carpets.^[8]
Jute: Jute sakes and hessian cloth are primarily used for packing agricultural products such as grain and rice. The production of jute products was approximately 100,000 tons in 2009-10.^[8]

Textile Production Technology and Skill Development

The Textile Institute Manchester, UK's local section for Lahore, Pakistan has played an extensive role in contributing to development of skill improvement and technology sharing through its various training and latest knowledge sharing platforms.^[9]

Trade

Textiles comprise 57% of Pakistan's export revenues. However, in recent years, textile exports have declined significantly. Textile exports were recorded at $11.625 billion in 2014-2015. In 2015-2016, this number had dropped 7.7% to $10.395 billion.^[10]

The Pakistan Textile Exporters Association recently requested the government to take significant measures to ensure the growth of textile exports and sustain the employment provided by the sector. Specifically, the PTEA has requested:^[11]

Zero rating on export value chain (i.e. no tax, no refund) to boost export growth
Subsidize a decrease in cost of production to boost competitiveness of Pakistani exports
Guarantee energy supply to textile mills at competitive rates

Furthermore, the Pakistan Textile Mills Association has demanded that the removal of duty on cotton imports and a rebate of five percent on textile exports. This plea has come at a time with about 110 mills have been shut down due to various barriers to growth including the energy crisis.^[11]

Barriers to growth

In recent years, Pakistan has faced competition from regional players including Bangladesh, India and Vietnam. In the past decade, Pakistan's share in global textile market decreased to 1.7 percent from 2.2 percent, Bangladesh saw an increase from 1.9 to 3.3 percent and India from 3.4 to 4.7 percent. Barriers to growth include:

Cost of production: The rising cost of production in the country has stalled investment as well as export competitiveness. A vertical shift in monetary policy and KIBOR rates have contributed to an increase in the cost of doing business and reduced lending abilities of local manufacturers.^[12]
Energy Crisis: Pakistan is currently facing a large-scale energy crisis. Due to energy demand exceeding supply by about 5000 MW. The government manages the deficit through daily power cuts (or blackouts). These power cuts have significantly impacted manufacturing industries in Pakistan.^[13] Several textile mills have closed their units due to inability to sustain operations. In addition, the mills have reportedly turned away export orders due to the inability to fill these orders when power cuts per day can last upwards of 12 hours.^[4]
Research and Development: There has been a limited effort to improve the quality and quantity of textiles in Pakistan through research and development, limiting the competitiveness of Pakistan's textiles in the global market.^[4]

Labor rights

The textile industry is the second largest employment sector in Pakistan.^[14] Labor costs are estimated to be about five to eight percent of total cost while import income of the sector is estimated to be about $12.5 billion in 2010-11.^[14] Textile mill owners have often complained that labor costs are "too high" while workers continue to be underpaid and over utilized.^[14] Factories often do not issue letters of employments to workers and therefore can easily fire them without legal consequences.^[14] Furthermore, safety and security remains a significant issue at textile, where there are limited checks on exhaust systems, light systems, and waste water disposal.^[14] This dire state of affairs of labor rights comes in sharp contrast to the growing Pakistan fashion industry, which mainly serves the country's elites.^[14]

Related Research Articles

Spinning is a twisting technique to form yarn from fibers. The fiber intended is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin. A few popular fibers that are spun into yarn other than cotton, which is the most popular, are viscose, animal fibers such as wool, and synthetic polyester. Originally done by hand using a spindle whorl, starting in the 500s AD the spinning wheel became the predominant spinning tool across Asia and Europe. The spinning jenny and spinning mule, invented in the late 1700s, made mechanical spinning far more efficient than spinning by hand, and especially made cotton manufacturing one of the most important industries of the Industrial Revolution.

Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the only manufacturing method, and many other methods were later developed to form textile structures based on their intended use. Knitting and non-woven are other popular types of fabric manufacturing. In the contemporary world, textiles satisfy the material needs for versatile applications, from simple daily clothing to bulletproof jackets, spacesuits, and doctor's gowns.

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or other lubricants to withstand the stresses involved in sewing. Embroidery threads are yarns specifically designed for needlework. Yarn can be made of a number of natural or synthetic materials, and comes in a variety of colors and thicknesses. Although yarn may be dyed different colours, most yarns are solid coloured with a uniform hue.

The economy of Bangladesh is a major developing market economy. As the second-largest economy in South Asia, Bangladesh's economy is the 33rd largest in the world in nominal terms, and 25th largest by purchasing power parity. Bangladesh is seen by various financial institutions as one of the Next Eleven. It has been transitioning from being a frontier market into an emerging market. Bangladesh is a member of the South Asian Free Trade Area and the World Trade Organization. In fiscal year 2021–2022, Bangladesh registered a GDP growth rate of 7.2% after the global pandemic. Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Jute is a long, rough, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus Corchorus, of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is Corchorus olitorius, but such fiber is considered inferior to that derived from Corchorus capsularis.

Lyocell is a semi-synthetic fiber used to make textiles for clothing and other purposes. It is a form of regenerated cellulose made by dissolving pulp and dry jet-wet spinning. Unlike rayon made by some of the more common viscose processes, Lyocell production does not use carbon disulfide, which is toxic to workers and the environment. Lyocell was originally trademarked as Tencel in 1982.

The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry.

The manufacture of textiles is one of the oldest of human technologies. To make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fiber from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving, which turns yarn into cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. For decoration, the process of colouring yarn or the finished material is dyeing. For more information of the various steps, see textile manufacturing.

The Ministry of Textiles is an Indian government national agency responsible for the formulation of policy, planning, development, export promotion and regulation of the textile industry in India. This includes all natural, artificial, and cellulosic fibers that go into the making of textiles, clothing and Handicrafts.

A staple fiber is a textile fiber of discrete length. The opposite is a filament fiber, which comes in continuous lengths. Staple length is a characteristic fiber length of a sample of staple fibers. A fiber is made up of natural substances and is known for being longer than it is wide. It is an essential criterion in yarn spinning, and aids in cohesion and twisting. Compared to synthetic fibers, natural fibers tend to have different and shorter lengths. The quality of natural fibers like cotton is categorized into staple length such as short, medium, long staple, and extra-long. Gossypium barbadense, one of several cotton species, produces extra-long staple fibers. The staple fibers may be obtained from natural and synthetic sources. In the case of synthetics and blends, the filament yarns are cut to a predetermined length.

The textile and clothing industries provide a single source of growth in Bangladesh's rapidly developing economy. Exports of textiles and garments are the principal source of foreign exchange earnings. By 2002 exports of textiles, clothing, and ready-made garments (RMG) accounted for 77% of Bangladesh's total merchandise exports. Emerging as the world's second-largest exporter of ready-made garment (RMG) products, Bangladesh significantly bolstered employment within the manufacturing sector.

The technological and industrial history of China is extremely varied, and extensive. China's industrial sector has shown great progress using most of its technology from the 1950s.

Pakistan's industrial sector accounts for 28.11% of the GDP. Of this, manufacturing makes up 12.52%, mining constitutes 2.18%, construction makes up 2.05%, and electricity and gas 1.36%. The majority of industry is made up of textile units, with textiles contributing $15.4b to exports, making up 56% of total exports. Other units include surgical instruments, chemicals, and a budding automotive industry. Pakistan's inadequately developed labor market, unable to absorb the increasing number of educated workers, has resulted in a high rate of unemployment among graduates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textiles of Mexico</span>

The textiles of Mexico have a long history. The making of fibers, cloth and other textile goods has existed in the country since at least 1400 BCE. Fibers used during the pre-Hispanic period included those from the yucca, palm and maguey plants as well as the use of cotton in the hot lowlands of the south. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish introduced new fibers such as silk and wool as well as the European foot treadle loom. Clothing styles also changed radically. Fabric was produced exclusively in workshops or in the home until the era of Porfirio Díaz, when the mechanization of weaving was introduced, mostly by the French. Today, fabric, clothes and other textiles are both made by craftsmen and in factories. Handcrafted goods include pre-Hispanic clothing such as huipils and sarapes, which are often embroidered. Clothing, rugs and more are made with natural and naturally dyed fibers. Most handcrafts are produced by indigenous people, whose communities are concentrated in the center and south of the country in states such as Mexico State, Oaxaca and Chiapas. The textile industry remains important to the economy of Mexico although it has suffered a setback due to competition by cheaper goods produced in countries such as China, India and Vietnam.

The textile industry in India traditionally, after agriculture, is the only industry that has generated huge employment for both skilled and unskilled labour. The textile industry continues to be the second-largest employment generating sector in India. It offers direct employment to over 35 million people in the country. India is the world's second largest exporter of textiles and clothing, and in the fiscal year 2022, the exports stood at US$ 44.4 billion. According to the Ministry of Textiles, the share of textiles in total exports during April–July 2010 was 11.04%. During 2009–2010, the Indian textile industry was pegged at US$55 billion, 64% of which services domestic demand. In 2010, there were 2,500 textile weaving factories and 4,135 textile finishing factories in all of India. According to AT Kearney’s ‘Retail Apparel Index’, India was ranked as the fourth most promising market for apparel retailers in 2009.

Clothing industry or garment industry summarizes the types of trade and industry along the production and value chain of clothing and garments, starting with the textile industry, embellishment using embroidery, via the fashion industry to apparel retailers up to trade with second-hand clothes and textile recycling. The producing sectors build upon a wealth of clothing technology some of which, like the loom, the cotton gin, and the sewing machine heralded industrialization not only of the previous textile manufacturing practices. Clothing industries are also known as allied industries, fashion industries, garment industries, or soft goods industries.

The textile industry in China is the largest in the world in both overall production and exports. China exported $274 billion in textiles in 2013, a volume that was nearly seven times that of Bangladesh, the second largest exporter with $40 billion in exports. This accounted for 43.1% of global clothing exports. According to Women's Wear Daily, they account for more than 50 percent of the world's total overall production, exports, and retail. As of 2022, their textile and garment exports total up to around $316 billion and their retail up to $672 billion. China has been ranked as the world's largest manufacturer since 2010.

A blend is a mixture of two or more fibers. In yarn spinning, different compositions, lengths, diameters, or colors may be combined to create a blend. Blended textiles are fabrics or yarns produced with a combination of two or more types of different fibers, or yarns to obtain desired traits and aesthetics. Blending is possible at various stages of textile manufacturing. The term, blend, refers to spun fibers or a fabric composed of such fibers. There are several synonymous terms: a combination yarn is made up of two strands of different fibers twisted together to form a ply; a mixture or mixed cloth refers to blended cloths in which different types of yarns are used in warp and weft sides.

Recover Textile Systems, mainly known as Recover™, is a materials science company and producer of mechanically recycled cotton fiber and recycled cotton fiber blends, created in 2020 with its headquarters in Banyeres de Mariola, Spain.

The Department of Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles and Khadi is one of the departments of Government of Tamil Nadu.

References

↑ "Textile Industry of Pakistan - An Analysis". Ravi Magazine. 8 March 2018. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
1 2 "Statistics on textile industry in Pakistan". The Express Tribune newspaper. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
↑ "Factsheet Pakistan: Facts on Pakistan's Garment Industry (2014)" (PDF).
1 2 3 4 "Textile Industry of Pakistan". 25 May 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
↑ Mohiuddin Aazim, Dawn com (29 January 2023). "Opinion: A high unemployment rate may pose a threat to the stability of Pakistan". Scroll.in. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
↑ "History of Textile in many countries". Textileasart.com website. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
↑ Pakistan's Cotton and Textile Economy– via Google Books.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Siddique, Rizwan. "FBR Syndicate Report" (PDF).
↑ "Lahore".
↑ "Pakistan's Textile exports decline 7.70%". The News International (newspaper). 23 May 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
1 2 "Pakistan Exports Slump by 14.40% since July 2016". Dunya TV News website. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
↑ "Analysis of Textile Industry of Pakistan". 24 May 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
↑ Murtaza Haider (24 July 2015). "Pakistan's Power Crisis". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 24 January 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Hussain, Jahanzeb (26 September 2016). "The ugly truth behind the glitz and glamour of Pakistan's textile exports". Scroll.in . Retrieved 24 January 2023– via Dawn newspaper.

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[Ravi-1] "Textile Industry of Pakistan - An Analysis". Ravi Magazine. 8 March 2018. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2024.

[Tribune-2] 1 2 "Statistics on textile industry in Pakistan". The Express Tribune newspaper. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2024.

[3] "Factsheet Pakistan: Facts on Pakistan's Garment Industry (2014)" (PDF).

[:1-4] 1 2 3 4 "Textile Industry of Pakistan". 25 May 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2024.

[5] Mohiuddin Aazim, Dawn com (29 January 2023). "Opinion: A high unemployment rate may pose a threat to the stability of Pakistan". Scroll.in. Retrieved 21 September 2023.

[6] "History of Textile in many countries". Textileasart.com website. Retrieved 28 February 2024.

[7] Pakistan's Cotton and Textile Economy– via Google Books.

[:0-8] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Siddique, Rizwan. "FBR Syndicate Report" (PDF).

[9] "Lahore".

[10] "Pakistan's Textile exports decline 7.70%". The News International (newspaper). 23 May 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2023.

[:2-11] 1 2 "Pakistan Exports Slump by 14.40% since July 2016". Dunya TV News website. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2023.

[12] "Analysis of Textile Industry of Pakistan". 24 May 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2024.

[13] Murtaza Haider (24 July 2015). "Pakistan's Power Crisis". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 24 January 2023.

[:3-14] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hussain, Jahanzeb (26 September 2016). "The ugly truth behind the glitz and glamour of Pakistan's textile exports". Scroll.in . Retrieved 24 January 2023– via Dawn newspaper.

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