Country''s raw cotton export has dipped by 62 percent during December 2007 as compared to same period of last fiscal year mainly due to shortfall in the cotton crop and high contamination ratio in the cotton, exporters said.
They said that in year 2007 the country almost has missed the cotton production target by some 2.5 million bales and as per current estimates of crop assessment committee, country'' cotton production would not be higher then 11.6 million bales as against the target of 14.1 million bales set by government for the current fiscal year 2008. "Current year cotton crop has been badly affected by mealy bug and cotton leaf curl virus (CLCV) due to the unavailability of pesticides," they added.
They stated that Pakistan is also producing contaminated cotton and contamination ratio in our crop is higher than India, USA and other competing countries. These factors have brought about constant decline in country''s raw cotton export during the current fiscal year.
As per official statistics the country''s cotton export has declined by some $3.435 million during December 2007 as compared with corresponding period of last fiscal. During December 2007 country''s raw cotton export stood at $2.125 million as against the some $5.56 million during December 2006.
Similarly, overall cotton exports has also declined by 15 percent during the first half of FY08,as compared to same period of last fiscal year 2007, they added.
Pakistan has exported some $20.139 million raw cotton during July-December as compared to 23.665 million dollars during the same period of 2006-07, depicting a decrease of 3.526 million dollars during the first half of 2008. "Contamination ratio in the country''s raw cotton is around 9.5 percent as against 3.5 percent in Indian raw cotton," said Ghulam Rabbani, a leading raw cotton trader.
He said that local raw cotton exporters are facing challenges of cotton quality in the international market, which benefits India, while shortfall in the crop also has cast negative impact on the export of cotton and presently traders are preferring to sell the cotton to the local textile industry.
"Local textile industry is facing shortage of 5 million bales during the current fiscal year, as currently our local demand stands at around 15-16 million bales, while expected production is 11.6 million bales during fiscal year 2008," he said.