Handicraft export comes down by 4.65 percent

Handicraft export comes down by 4.65 percent
eKantipur.com, 23-May-07

The export of handicraft goods from Nepal fell by 4.65 percent in the first three quarters of the current fiscal year.

Data compiled by Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) shows that Rs 2.02 billion worth of handicraft were exported in the first nine months of 2006/07, as against Rs 2.12 billion in same period last fiscal year.

However, export in the ninth month of the current fiscal year was marginally higher than the export in the same period last year, with recording a 2.72 percent rise.

The dip is attributed largely to slump in export of pashmina products, metal craft and handmade paper which together contributed 41 percent of all handicraft exports from Nepal.

Slump in export of pashmina products, which make up 19 percent of the total handicraft exports, continues.

A total of Rs 359.94 million worth of pashmina products were exported in the nine months of this fiscal year. It is down by 18.56 percent compared to the same period last year. The country had exported pashmina worth of over Rs 5.6 billion six years ago.

FHAN officials said that pashmina export suffered mostly from tough competition by Chinese and Indian products and also its inability to adapt to new market trends and develop new products.

The recently launched 150 new patterns and designs by Pashmina Product Development Committee, a unit of Handicraft Design and Development Center is expected to fill the gaps in this regard.

Similarly, export of metal craft fell down by 12.47 percent to Rs 276.5 million while handmade paper products marked a 10.26 percent decrease in export to Rs 175.04 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

The export of woolen goods came down by 27.47 percent this year. This was attributed to the separation of felt product export from the category of woolen goods.

“We used to include felt products under woolen goods. But with their rising export, the federation decided to file it separately,” said Krishna Hada of FHAN, elaborating the reason behind decline.

In the first three quarters during the previous year, the woolen goods and felt products brought in Rs 496. 29 million worth of foreign currency while in the same period this year they sold for Rs 359.94 million and Rs 155.55 million respectively bringing the combined export to Rs 515.51 million. This is 26 percent of the total handicraft export.

But officials at FHAN said that the dip is not significant enough to cause worries.

“An increase or decrease of less than 10 percent does not mean much to the industry. The difference in the first eight months was 5.44 percent and now it is 4.65 percent. I expect this year's exports to be on par with last year's by the end of the fiscal year,” Dilip Khanal, executive secretary of FHAN told the Post.