Cotton arrival in Pakistan decreased 34.5% year-on-year, showed data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginner’s Association (PCGA) on Friday.

As per the report, total cotton arrival in Pakistan declined to 4.875 million bales as of March 1, compared to 7.442 million bales in the same period last year, a fall of 2.567 million bales or 34.5%.

The decline in cotton arrival is attributed to the flash floods in Pakistan, which devastated large swathes of agricultural land in the country, especially in Sindh and Balochistan.

Cotton arrival plunges 36% year-on-year

Cotton is an essential raw material for the country’s textile sector and the development is alarming for Pakistan’s cash-strapped economy, which is already facing depleting foreign exchange reserves. Its central bank has reserves of just $3.81 billion remaining, barely enough for one month of imports.

Meanwhile, as per the PCGA data, cotton arrival reported a steep fall from Sindh.

As of March 1, cotton arrival in Sindh was 1.879 million bales compared to 3.513 million bales in the same period in 2021, a decrease of 1.664 million bales or 46.5%. On a monthly basis, cotton arrival remained stagnant with an improvement of 0.5% as compared to 1.871 million bales arrived on February 1.

Similarly, cotton arrival in Punjab clocked in at 2.996 million bales as compared to 3.929 million bales reported in the same period last year, a decline of 23.7%. However, on a monthly basis, cotton arrival recorded a marginal increase of 3.6% as compared to 2.893 million bales arrived on February 1.

Industrialists have expressed concern over the ongoing slump in the textile sector.

Last month, the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) urged the federal government for a level playing field by implementing a uniform gas price of $7 per MMBtu for the export industry across the country.

APTMA also warned that the decision of the government to suspend the regionally competitive energy tariff (RCET) of electricity for Export Oriented Units (EOUs) will hurt the textile industry, particularly in Punjab.