34

Weaving

Pakistan has a strong textile industrydue to historical reasons and anabundance of cotton fibre grown in thecountry. The denim component has beendeveloping the fastest in the last decade –touching almost 600 million squaremeters of denim fabric production perannum. There are about 40 major playersin the denim industry of Pakistan. Someof them, like Artistic Fabric Mills, PakDenim Limited, Al-Ameen Denim MillsLimited, S.M Denim Mills Ltd, DenimInternational, Classic Denim, RajbyIndustries, etc. are producing about 50million square meters of finished denimfabrics monthly.

The weaving sector in Pakistan byand large is paying keen attention to theremarkable success of the denim subsector. The apparel industry of Pakistanbenefits directly from the newdevelopments in the denim, adding muchhigher value to the textiles produced inPakistan. The denim sector, though muchsmaller in terms of magnitude, is pavingthe way for the entire industry.

In Pakistan, denim production is ontop in textile sector due to the export andgarments industry Denim is now one ofthe key apparel sectors and the drivingforce behind the apparel exports of thecountry.

The denim fabric is an intermediateproduct in the supply chain of denimgarments. It is not purchased by the finalcustomers; instead, the buyers of denimfabric are buying houses and garmentmanufacturers. These manufacturersprocure denim fabric from the denimmanufacturers based upon theirrequirements and specifications. This isthen further processed and cut, sewn andtransformed into finished garments.These garments are then marketed to thefinal consumers.

Thus denim fabric is not a final retailproduct. It is an intermediate productwhich requires another party to performfurther manufacturing tasks before it

reaches the final consumer in the form ofdenim garments.

Denim was traditionally coloured bluewith indigo dye to make blue "jeans,"though "jean", then denoted a different,lighter cotton textile. Common usesincluded overalls made of blue denim,worn by mechanics and painters. Commonuses included topcoats, vests or shortjackets, and fine trousers in chestnut, olive,black, white and blue jean.

Denim accounts about 3% of worldfabric production. In the 1990s, two-thirds of all denim cloth produced in theworld was woven on Sulzer Ruti Projectileweaving machines. Air-jet looms consumefewer raw materials and less maintenancecompared to the projectiles. About 56%denim fabrics are produced usingprojectile looms and 29% in air-jet and15% in rapier weaving. Today, majordenim producers around the globe areoperating air-jets.

Pakistan cotton denim fabrics hold the highest potential for growthby Dr. Noor Ahmed Memon.

Export of cotton denim fabricsfrom Pakistan increased from 263million sq. meters worth Rs26.77billion in 2010-11 to 320 millionsq. meters worth Rs.35.34 billionin 2011-12, thus showing anincrease of 32% in terms of value.The major markets during 2011-12 were Bangladesh, Turkey,Egypt, and Colombia.

Table 1: World export of Blue Denim Apparel(Qty : 000 Doz Value: US $ Million)

Country2012 (Sept.) 2011 2010

Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value

China 9,287 866 12,579 1,229 16,055 1,348

Mexico 7,293 760 10,606 1,111 11,363 1,018

Bangladesh 4,101 309 5,483 406 6,860 405

Egypt 1,221 127 1,893 192 2,312 191

Pakistan 1,233 112 1,486 138 1,804 133

All others 8,298 814 11,462 1,168 13,057 1,155

World 31,433 2,988 43,509 4,244 51,451 4,250

Source: PRGMEA.

Table 2: World export of Blue Denim Trousers (Men’s / Boys)

(Qty : 000 Doz Value: US $ Million)

Country2012 (Sept.) 2011 2010

Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value

Mexico 6,543 658 8,972 892 9,267 786

China 2,014 202 2,694 297 4,134 374

Bangladesh 2,567 192 3,575 273 4,406 264

Netherlands 890 82 1,498 131 1,037 76

Pakistan 567 46 909 80 1,195 84

All others 3,709 415 5,253 587 5,984 568World 16,290 1,595 22,901 2,260 26,023 2,152

Source: PRGMEA.

Denim fabric is unique in itsconnection with one colour - blue. Thewarp yarn is traditionally dyed with theblue pigment obtained from indigo dye.In a twill weave (used in denim), thefabric is constructed by interlacing warpand filling yarns in a progressivealternation which creates a diagonaleffect on the face, or right side, of thefabric and has a surface of diagonalparallel ridges.

The top world blue denim apparelexporting countries are China, Mexico,Bangladesh, Egypt and Pakistan.Together, these countries account for asmuch as 73% of world blue denimapparel exports. Almost all of thesecountries witnessed an increase in theirblue denim apparel exports during theperiod 2010 to 2012. Statistics regardingthe world export of blue denim apparelare given in Table-1.

The importance of the apparel sectorin the overall economic perspective is twofold. On the one hand, the sector has thepotential to be the engine of Pakistantextile export growth, while on the other,the sector is the largest source of creatinglow cost employment in the country at alllevels. World export of blue denimtrousers (Men’s and Boys’) are given inTable-2.

Denim is now well established as ahigh fashion fabric, contrary to itstraditional image of a fabric suitable forrough and functional usage.

Export of cotton denim fabrics fromPakistan increased from 84 million squaremeters worth Rs8.04 billion in 2007-08 to320 million square meters worth Rs35.34billion in 2011-12, thus showing anaverage increase of 68% per annum interms of value. Export statistics of cottondenim fabrics from Pakistan are given inTable-3.

Denim is now one of the key apparelsectors and the driving force behind theapparel exports of the country. Theglobal recession, in fact, did not impactthe denim industry in Pakistan. The

present market situation doesnot allow the global players inthe denim to increase consumerprices and therefore they haveto absorb the price increasesfrom denim fabric producersworldwide.

In this scenario Pakistan hasemerged as a key supplier of this

highly demanded fabric due to thecompetitive prices and in houseinnovations by the denim manufacturersin Pakistan.

Bangladesh, Turkey, Egypt, Sri lankaand Colombia are the major markets fordenim fabric exports from Pakistan. Withabout 126 million sq. meters of denimfabric being exported to Bangladesh in2010-12, it is a major market forPakistan. However, export is going to beseverely affected with Turkey increasingduties on imports from 24th July 2011.This step taken by Turkey is going toaffect the denim mills in Pakistan.

India is becoming an importantmarket for Pakistani denim fabrics.Though the quantities of about 2.1million meters in 2011-12 are still small,it is indicative of the potential of theIndian denim market and it seems that itwill become more important in thecoming years. Both the garmentexporters, from India as well as the localbrands, are becoming important in Indiaas they are getting more aggressive andto differentiate themselves, they buyfabrics from around the world – Italy,Turkey, Spain and with Pakistanbecoming an importantsupplier to service their exportmarket. Country-wise exportof cotton denim fabrics fromPakistan is given in Table-4.

Challenges

1. Regional competition fromChina, Bangladesh andIndia threatens Pakistanidenim prospects. Chinahas a competitive advan-tage on cost and price dueto subsidized power andeconomies of scale. On theother hand, Bangladeshhas an advantage due tovarious trade agreementsand tariff relaxations.

2. The world buyers and mar-kets demand compliance

to certain standards and regulations.The firms considering these standardsand certifications are at a competitiveadvantage.

3. The world buyers and markets havetransformed themselves as eco-friendly and concerned organizations.It is imperative for the denim industryto ensure compliance with environ-mental standards and labour stan-dards which are decided inaccordance with international codesand agreements.

4. The continuously depreciating cur-rency of Pakistan has helped in main-taining the competitiveness of theindustry but it is not a factor whichcan sustain the industry in the longrun. Some mills in Pakistan have defi-nitely tried to invest heavily in prod-uct development and innovation andthis is probably the best way to main-tain the industry’s performance andprogress in the coming years.

Reference

1. S. Sangita and P. Siva Kumar – Typesof stone wash and their effects ondenim fabrics The Indian TextileJournal.

2. Dr. N. Gokarneshan – Denim – likeeffect in Knitted fabrics-The IndianTextile Journal.

3. Pakistan Readymade GarmentsManufacturers and ExportsAssociation (PRGMEA).

4. Federal Bureau of Statistics,Government of Pakistan.�

Weaving

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Table 4: Country-wise export of cotton denim fabrics

Qty: (000 Sq. mtrs) Value: (Rs million)

Country2011-2012 2010-11

Qty Value Qty ValueBangladesh 126,072 13,348 45,431 6,238Cambodia 11,068 1,229 4,592 402

Egypt 23,938 2,827 10,262 1,108Germany 2,438 281 1,722 176

Hong Kong 5,274 652 3,364 302India 3,097 350 5,374 265Italy 8,414 956 11,639 1,116

Lesotho 3,762 467 3,673 358Morocco 6,095 701 1,893 207

Peru 9,439 990 4,884 524Poland 837 91 1,534 155

Sri Lanka 12,638 1,341 8,426 902Turkey 50,628 5,534 126,331 11,284

Vietnam 6754 921 1,438 174All others 49,662 5,653 32,700 3,560

Total 320,116 35,341 263,263 26,771

Source: Federal Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.

Table 3: Export of Cotton Denim fabrics

YearQty

(000 Sq mtrs)Value

(Rs in Million)

2007-08 84,066 8,040

2008-09 117,960 11,707

2009-10 228,879 20,490

2010-11 263,263 26,771

2011-12 320,116 35,341

Source: Federal Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan