Cotton arrival in Pakistan witnessed a significant increase of 66.5% on August 1 compared to July 15, showed the latest fortnightly data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginner’s Association (PCGA) on Thursday.
As per the report, total cotton arrival in Pakistan rose to 1.429 million bales as of August 1 compared to 0.858 million bales recorded on July 15, 2023, an increase of 0.571 million bales.
A year-on-year comparison was not available, as data was not collected on August 1, 2022, said PCGA.
Last year, flash floods in Pakistan devastated large swathes of agricultural land in the country, especially in Sindh and Balochistan.
The improvement in cotton arrivals, an essential raw material for the textile sector, is a welcome development for cash-strapped Pakistan.
As per the PCGA data, cotton arrival reported a substantial increase from Punjab.
As of August 1, cotton arrival in Punjab clocked in at 0.389 million bales as compared to 0.199 million bales reported on July 15, 2023, an increase of 95.4%.
Similarly, cotton arrival in Sindh was 1.040 million bales compared to 0.659 million bales recorded in July, an increase of 0.381 million bales or 57.8%.
Pakistan’s textile sector exports registered a decline of 15% and remained $1.31 billion during July 2023 compared to $1.54 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The latest All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) data revealed that the country’s textile exports during the first seven months (Jan-July) of the calendar year 2023 stood at $9.09 billion, down 21% compared to exports of $11.48 billion reported in January-July 2022.
Last month, PCGA demanded the government prepare a clear strategy to buy cotton and oil at the prices set by the government and immediately remove the illegal tax on Banola (cotton plant) and also solve the problem of electricity.
Back then, it was unanimously decided in the meeting that the cotton producers will suspend the purchase of cotton in the whole of Pakistan.