LAHORE: The market remained dull on Friday when it opened after eid holidays. The trading volume remained low.
Cotton Analyst Naseem Usman told that fluctuation was observed in the international cotton market. He also told that the rate of cotton in Punjab and Sindh is in between Rs 18000 to Rs 21,000 per maund.
Bangladesh will for the first time import 9 million bales of cotton this year thanks to the sudden rise in demand for yarn and fabrics, said Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
In 2021, Bangladesh imported 8.5 million bales of cotton at a cost of over $3 billion. One bale equals to 480 pounds or 218 kg.
Cotton import will surge in the country as the export of Bangladeshi made garment items rose significantly with the gradual reopening of the global economies, he said today.
For instance, between July and December last year, the first six months of the current fiscal year, garment export grew by 28.02 per cent year-on-year to $19.90 billion.
Of the amount earned from the garment shipment, $11.16 billion came from knitwear, a 30.91 per cent rise year-on-year.
In the period, $8.73 billion came from woven, which is also 24.50 per cent higher year-on-year.
“The upward trend of garment export will continue up to June this year as we booked huge volume of work orders,” Faruque Hassan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said last week.
“We have already made payment of the letters of credit for importing the cotton,” said Khokon.
“We are expecting a rush in import of cotton in March and April this year and a chaos in the port because of container congestion,” said president of the platform for the primary textile sector and cotton millers.
Khokon again complained that the vessels of the international shipping lines are reluctant to come to the country’s premier Chattogram port because of long stays due to congestion and for the shortage of container vessels.
The BTMA president was talking to a group of journalists at his association office in Dhaka to share the current situation of the textile industry. Khokon also said currently the local spinners can meet 90 per cent demand for the raw materials for the knitwear sector but only 40 per cent of the woven sector.
As a result, some 6 billion out of total 10 billion meters of fabrics are imported to meet the demand of the local woven garment sector.
July cotton futures gave back the full 6 cent allowed limit on Thursday, in the process tallying the 24th triple digit move in the past 34 sessions. New crop prices were also down 243 to 334 points on the volatile pullback.
Weekly FAS data had 223,356 RBs of old crop cotton sold for export during the week of 4/28. That was nearly double last week’s volume and compares to 63.6k RBs during the same week last year. New crop bookings were 93,174 RBs, also above last week and the same week last year. Total forward sales were pegged at 2.94m RBs as of 4/28, 69% above last year’s pace.
The online cotton trading platform, The Seam, reported 1,579 bales were sold for an average 141.69 cents/lb on 5/4. The Cotlook A index was down by 60 points on 5/4 to 168.70 cents. USDA’s AWP was 8.5 cents higher to 147.1 cents/lb.
The Spot Rate remained unchanged at Rs 21000 per maund. Polyester Fiber was available at Rs 290 per kg.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022