KARACHI: Previous week saw an overall stability in the rate of cotton. Business volume; however, remained extremely low. The crisis in the textile sector is getting worse. Positive measures are needed to increase cotton cultivation; however, at present the situation of cotton sowing is satisfactory.
In the domestic cotton market, prices were overall stable during the last week. Due to less interest in cotton procurement by textile and spinning mills, the business volume remained low.
In fact, there is a feeling of despair in the textile sector because the government is not paying attention to the issues of this sector. The government has already withdrawn the incentives given to the textile sector due to the pressure of International Monetary Fund (IMF).
It is feared that the exports of the country will further decrease as the result of non-competitive energy and gas rates that have already pushed the textile sector to a severe crisis, also affecting the cotton business badly.
However, effective steps are being taken by the government to increase cotton production. The government has timely fixed the intervention price of Phutti at Rs 8500 per 40 kg. It has also announced several incentives for the cotton farmers, while the cultivation of rice has been banned in most of the cotton producing areas.
According to the information received from the cotton producing areas, currently the cotton sowing is said to be satisfactory. According to the experts, if the weather conditions remained favourable, the cotton production is expected to increase. This year, the government has set a cotton production target of one Crore and twenty seven lac and seventy thousand bales.
The rate of cotton in Sindh was in between Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,500 per maund. The rate of Phutti, which is available in small quantity, is in between Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,500 per 40 kg. The rate of cotton in Punjab is in between Rs 19,000 to Rs 21,000 per maund while the rate of Phutti is in between Rs 7,500 to Rs 9,000 per 40 kg. The rate of Khal, Banola and oil remained unchanged.
The Spot Rate Committee of the Karachi Cotton Association kept the rate unchanged at Rs 20,000 per maund.
According to the chairman Karachi Cotton Brokers Forum Naseem there was fluctuation in the international cotton markets. Significant fluctuation was seen in the rate of Future Trading of New York Cotton. The rate first fell to a low of 76 US cents per pound before reaching a high of 85 US cents per pound and closed at a low of 80.53 US cents per pound.
Overall bearish trend prevailed in the rate of cotton in India. According to the estimates of Cotton Association of India, 298.35 lac fewer bales will be produced in the season 2022-23. The reason behind less production is that the production of cotton will be less in Maharashtra, Talangana, Tamil Nadu and Orissa.
According to the USDA’s weekly export and sales report for the year 2022-23, around two lac and forty six thousand and eight hundred bales were sold, which was 7 percent higher than the previous week.
China was at the top by purchasing 1 lac and six thousand and two hundred thousand bales.
Vietnam bought seventy seven thousand and eight hundred bales and came second.
Bangladesh bought 36,000 bales and came third.
Turkey bought seventeen thousand and six hundred bales and ranked fourth.
Pakistan bought 9,200 bales and stood at the fifth position.
Twelve thousand and eight hundred bales were sold for the year 2023-24.
Nicaragua topped the list by buying 4,400 bales. Peru was second with 3,200 bales. Mexico bought 3,100 bales and was in the third place. Turkey bought 2,200 bales and stood at the fourth place.
Cotton cultivation is going on rapidly in Punjab and 50% of the cotton area has already been brought under cultivation, said by Secretary Agriculture, Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo in a meeting held at APTMA office, Lahore for the growth of cotton and improvement of textile industry.
Secretary Energy Naeem Rauf, Patron APTMA Gohar Ejaz, Chairman APTMA Hamid Zaman, Director General Agriculture (Extension) Dr Anjum Ali and other stakeholders were present. On this occasion, Sahoo said that the government of Punjab is committed to revival of cotton and all resources are being utilized to achieve the cotton production target. The government has fixed the pre-sowing support price of cotton at Rs 8500 per maund, which will make cotton cultivation profitable. Apart from this, farmers will get a subsidy of Rs 1,000 per bag on seeds of selected approved varieties for 0.6 million acres. Apart from this, billions of rupees are being subsidized on phosphorous and potash fertilizers to reduce the production cost of farmers.
He further said that this year, provincial and district level of production competitions between cotton farmers are being held with cash prizes of million of rupees. He further said that the irrigation department is taking special measures to supply canal water to the cotton areas. The field workers are available to support the farmers for technical guidance. Teams of the agriculture department are working from village to village for the promotion of cotton crop.
On this occasion, Patron APTMA Gohar Ejaz welcomed the seed supply and subsidy for cultivation. He emphasized to use IT to increase cotton cultivation area.
There are reports of import queries of Apparel from USA and European Union but there are also some issues due to delay in agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023