Cotton arrival in Pakistan decreased 34% year-on-year, showed data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginner’s Association (PCGA) on Thursday.
As per the report, total cotton arrival in Pakistan declined to 4.912 million bales as of April 1, compared to 7.442 million bales in the same period last year, a fall of 2.530 million bales or 34%.
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 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 $4.2 billion remaining, barely enough for a month of essential imports.
Cotton arrival dips 34.5% year-on-year
Meanwhile, as per the PCGA data, cotton arrival reported a steep fall from Sindh.
As of April 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 unchanged as compared to 1.871 million bales arrived on February 1.
Similarly, cotton arrival in Punjab clocked in at 3.033 million bales as compared to 3.929 million bales reported in the same period last year, a decline of 22.8%. However, on a monthly basis, cotton arrival recorded a marginal increase of 1.2% as compared to 2.996 million bales arrived on February 1.
Industrialists have expressed concern over the ongoing slump in the textile sector.
Pakistan’s textile sector exports witnessed a significant decline of 21%, clocking in at $1.29 billion in March 2023 compared to $1.63 billion recorded in the same month of the previous year, showed provisional data released by the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) on Tuesday.
Earlier, APTMA warned that the country’s textile exports could fall by $3 billion this year as compared to last year, while urging authorities to take immediate and urgent intervention.