By Azernews

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Russia is the main consumer of textile products from Uzbekistan, according to the Uzbek State Statistics Committee. In January-May 2019, more than 38 percent (worth $250.2 million) of Uzbekistan’s textile exports were shipped to this country.

According to official data, over the past three years, exports of Uzbek textiles to China have more than doubled, from $90.9 million in January-May 2017 to $190.3 million in the same period of 2019.

Turkey is also one of the largest consumers of textile products from Uzbekistan. From the beginning of the year, products worth $63.6 million were shipped to Turkey. Then come Kyrgyzstan with $34.9 million, Iran - $19.7 million, Kazakhstan - $16.6 million and Poland - $10.7 million.

According to the State Statistics Committee, in January-May 2019, total exports of textile products amounted to $653.7 million and increased by 21.9 percent compared to the same period of 2018, which is 10.2 percent of total exports.

The main share in the structure of textile exports is taken by cotton yarn (58.6 percent), as well as finished knitwear and garments (22.4 percent). Since the beginning of the year, more than 336 types of these goods have been exported to 50 countries.

As a result of the creation of new capacities and the organization of cluster activities in 2019, as many as 78 percent of the harvested cotton fiber will be processed in the country, which is twice as much as in 2017.

By 2020, the transition to the complete processing of cotton fiber will be completed. According to official estimates, the share of finished products will be increased from 40 percent to at least 60 percent.