Chemical, pharma exports rise 24% YoY to $127 million in July; cement exports also climb
Other chemicals lead growth at nearly 47% annually; pharmaceutical exports fall despite monthly gain
Exports of chemicals and pharmaceutical products, part of Pakistan’s broader “Other Manufactures” export group, rose to $127.19 million in July 2026, up 14.85% month-on-month from $110.75 million in June, and 24% higher than $102.58 million in July 2025, according to provisional Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data.
In rupee terms, exports totalled Rs35,363 million.
Other chemicals led the category, rising 27.03% month-on-month to $64.33 million, up 46.66% year-on-year. Plastic materials exports fell 7.82% month-on-month to $34.63 million but rose 38% year-on-year.
Pharmaceutical product exports increased 25.28% month-on-month to $28.24 million, though they remained down 16.02% year-on-year.
Separately, cement exports rose to $38.21 million in July, up 42.87% month-on-month and 9.58% higher year-on-year, with export quantity climbing 53.89% month-on-month to 985,180 metric tons.
Engineering goods exports fell 26.45% month-on-month to $41.43 million but were up 10.47% year-on-year. Surgical goods and medical instruments exports rose 29.59% month-on-month to $41.51 million, up 8.42% year-on-year.
Unclassified “other items” imports rose 34.15% YoY
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Beyond eight formally classified import groups, a residual category labelled “All Other Items” in Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data rose to $490.68 million in July 2026, up 1.65% month-on-month from $482.70 million in June, and 34.15% higher than $365.77 million in July 2025. In rupee terms, this stood at Rs136,612 million.
Within the separately classified Miscellaneous Group, imports totalled $119.81 million in July, up 12.53% month-on-month and 5.58% year-on-year, with rupee-denominated imports at Rs33,350 million.
Rubber tyres and tubes led growth within the Miscellaneous Group, up 41.33% month-on-month and 43.36% year-on-year to $34.04 million. Wood and cork imports rose 19.18% month-on-month to $12.14 million, up 27.90% year-on-year.
Paper and paperboard imports edged up 2.84% month-on-month to $40.66 million but fell 10.86% year-on-year. Jute imports, by contrast, fell to zero in July, down 100% both month-on-month and year-on-year from $1.86 million a year earlier.
Reference Link:- https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2026/08/19/chemical-pharma-exports-rise-24percent-yoy-to-dollar127-million-in-july-cement-exports-also-climb
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
