Cotton arrivals at the ginneries across the country have been recorded at 8.978 million bales compared to last year's 8.781 million bales till December 01, thus showing a small increase of 2.25 percent in the national production.
According to a report issued by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) head office here on Monday, at the moment, 1063 ginning factories are operating in the country, 861 in Punjab and 202 in Sindh.
Although Punjab has shown an excess of 4.83 percent production with 7.112 million bales, the Sindh province registered a decline of 6.51 percent with 1.866 million bales output.
The textile mills' purchases show a brisk trend this year, with 6.498 million bales procured this year compared to last year's 6.034 million bales. Purchase by exporters is also looking up 67,350 bales bought so far compared to last year's 52,600 bales till December 1. Meanwhile, unsold stocks lying at ginneries include 1.041 million bales of lint and 1.408 million bales of phutti (seed-cotton).
According to PCGA sources, the approximate existing rates of lint and phutti on the open market are Rs 2400-2500 per maund and Rs 1100-1200 per 40 kg respectively in the Punjab. The government's revised support price for phutti is Rs 1025 while its old support price for lint is Rs 2269 which is yet to be revised, sources added.
In view of the massive crop damage by cotton leaf curl virus and mealy bug in Multan, Khanewal, Vehari and Lodhran districts, the cotton crop assessment committee has reduced the national output target from 13.82 million bales to 12.41 million bales.