The hopefulness the home textile industry displayed for more than two years is fading as it failed to meet expectations for a second consecutive month.
The sector experienced negative growth of 16.02% to $601.26 million in the July to December period of the current fiscal year (2022-23) from $715.95 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year (FY2021-22), according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
However, the sector’s export objective for the aforementioned quarter (H1) of FY23 was $928.24 million, which was 35.23% higher than the actual revenue.
The promising export sector also lost its second position and fell into the third position behind the RMG and leather sectors as a result of the continuous negative growth.
The sector people stated that the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, inflationary pressures, and economic turmoil have shrunk the purchasing capacity of the people of destination countries.
Moreover, a number of home textile factories could not export goods as per demand after August due to the gas-power crisis, they added.
However, they believe a recovery starting in the following months, particularly in February and March.
Speaking to the media, they said that the current period (Nov-Dec) is a lean period for home products and they are hopeful that the export will increase in the coming months.
Moreover, they are also optimistic that they will get adequate orders from the ‘Heimtextil Frankfurt 2023’ where they will meet old and new buyers and new orders will play a pivotal role to recover the sector from negative growth.
Moreover, in the destination countries, the “federal purchase” tenders usually open during September-October of the year, allowing them to purchase textiles for hospitals, prisons, homes and other caregiving organizations.
The buyers already contacted manufacturers regarding federal purchase orders.
The home textile export basket of the country includes bed linen, bed sheet and other bedroom textiles, bath linen, carpets and rugs, blankets, kitchen linen, curtains, cushions and cushion cover, and covers for quilts.
In the last fiscal year, the sector bagged $1.62 billion, fetching a growth of 43.28% in FY22 against $1.13 billion in FY21, EPB data showed.
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