Sluggish business on cotton market

KARACHI: The local cotton market on Monday remained stable and trading volume remained low.

The Spot Rate remained unchanged at Rs 15900 per maund. The polyester fiber was available at Rs 247 per kg.

Cotton Analyst Naseem Usman told that the rate of cotton in Sindh remained between Rs 12500 to Rs 16,500 per maund and the rate of cotton in Punjab was registered at Rs 14,200 to Rs 16,500 per maund.

The rate of the new crop of Phutti in Sindh was remained between Rs 5000 to Rs 7,000 per 40 kg. While Phutti prices in Punjab were between Rs 5,800 to Rs 7,300 per 40 kg.

Similarly, prices of cotton in Balochistan were remained at Rs 13,800 to 16,200 per maund while Phutti prices were high as compared to other two provinces which were Rs 6,200 to 79,00 per maund, said Naseem Usman.

The rate of Banola in Sindh was in between Rs 1350 to Rs 2,000 per maund. While in Punjab rates of Banola were in between Rs 1650 to Rs 2,100 per maund.

600 bales of Lodhran were sold at Rs 16200 per maund, 400 bales of Khan Pur were sold at Rs 16100 per maund and 200 bales of Faqeer Wali were sold at Rs 16000 per maund.

Naseem Usman told that despite the decrease in the rate of dollar the prices of cotton remained high.

The United States of America (USA) remained the top export destination of the Pakistani products during the first three months of ongoing financial year (2021-22), followed by China and United Kingdom (UK).

Total exports to the USA during July-September (2021-22) were recorded at $1565.343 million against the exports of $1047.764 million during July-September (2020-21), showing growth of 49.40 percent, according to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). This was followed by China, wherein Pakistan exported goods worth $559.153 million against the exports of $329.421 million last year, showing an increase of 69.73 percent.

UK was the at third top export destination, where Pakistan exported products worth $ 549.667 million during the months under review against the exports of $427.540 million during last year, showing growth of 28.56 percent, SBP data revealed. Among other countries, Pakistani exports to UAE stood at $407.122 million against $322.459 million during last year, showing increase of 26.25 percent while the exports to Germany were recorded at $406.261 million against $367.529 million last year, the data revealed.

During July-September (2021-22), the exports to Holland were recorded at $328.654 million against $229.277 million whereas the exports to Italy stood at $252.776 million against $167.868 million.

Pakistan’s exports to Spain were recorded at $225.079 million against the exports of $147.446 million while the exports to Afghanistan were recorded at $127.647 million against $209.868 million last year. The exports to Bangladesh stood at $175.389 million against $127.487 million.

Similarly, the exports to France during the months under review were recorded at $119.045 million against $91.146 million while the exports to Belgium stood at $167.374 million against $13.701 million. Pakistan’s exports to Saudi Arabia were recorded at $93.22 million during the current year compared to $106.958 million last year whereas the exports to Canada stood at $91.511 million against $68.198 million, to Malaysia $83.348 million against $43.922 million.

Overall, Pakistan’s exports to all other countries witnessed an increase of 35.24 percent during the months under review, from $5.353 billion to $7.241 billion, the SBP data revealed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021