Food Exports Increase 16.81 Pc In First Half of FY2018, 31.19pc In December

ISLAMABAD, Jan 28 (APP):Food exports from the country
witnessed an impressive growth of 16.81 during the first half of the current
fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The food exports rose to
$1,932,269 million during July-December (2017-18) against the exports of
$1,654,245 million during July-December (2016-17), according to latest data of
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The commodities that
contributed in overall food trade from the country included rice exports of
which grew by 18.32 percent from $712,832 million last year to $843,388 million
during the current year. Among rice commodities, the exports of basmati rice
increased by 4.52 percent while that of other rice commodities increased by
22.88 percent.
The exports of fish and fish
preparations from the country also increased by 9.08 percent by growing from
$183,446 million to $200,097 million while the exports of vegetables increased
by 6.52 percent, from $58,871 million to $62,709 million.
During the period under
review, the tobacco exports from the country increased from $3,991 million to
$20,625 million, showing growth of 416.79 percent while the wheat exports
witnessed increase of 100 percent percent by going up from zero exports to
$0.045 million.
Exports of oil, seeds, nuts
and kernals increased by 10.35 percent from $20,243 million to $22,339 million
while sugar exports also increased from zero exports last year to $181,209
million, showing 100 percent growth.
Meanwhile, the food products
that witnessed negative growth in trade included fruits, exports of which declined
from $198,143 million to $180,288 million, showing 9.01 decline while the
exports of leguminous vegetable (pulses) decreased by 100 percent .
Exports of spics from the
country also decreased from $37,478 million to $36,421 million, showing
decrease of 2.82 million while the exports of meat and meat preparations
decreased by 6.21 percent, from $104,401 million to $97,915 million.
Other than these
commodities, the exports of all other food products also witnessed decline of
14.08 percent by falling from $334,312 million last year to $287,233 million
this year.
Meanwhile, on year-on-year
basis, the food exports from the country witnessed 31.18 percent growth during
the month of December 2017 compared to the same month of last year.
The food exports during
December 2017 were recorded at $439,285 million against the exports of $334,860
million last December, according to the PBS data.
On month-on-month basis, the
food exports from the country also witnessed increase of 4.92 percent in
December 2017 when compared to the exports of $418,697 million in November
2017, the data revealed.