Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) has strongly reacted to inflated cotton estimates of 16.4 million bales, saying that total cotton production of Pakistan will not be more than 11.3 million bales in any case. PCGA President Mukhtar Ahmed Khan Baloch, while talking to Business Recorder on phone, said he strongly condemned the estimates, as it had hit badly the growers and ginners at large.
Baloch said the Cotton Crop Assessment Committee had also estimated a total of 11.95 million bales for 2013-14, which would actually be not more than 11.3 million bales. According to him, the ginners are perturbed over the report of 16.4 million bales and criticising him for not responding to the situation.
However, he said the cotton growers were 'illiterate' when it was pointed out that not a single grower had challenged the crop estimate of 16 million bales. Further, he said, cotton price had dropped by Rs 200 with reports of historic crop in Pakistan. Mian Ehsan, another ginner from Rahim Yar Khan, said the impression of high production until November 15 was due to abnormally high temperature during September to November, resulting into premature opening of cotton flowers. But it was a bare fact that only 50 ginning factories would be operating in January and February against around 1,000 factories operational at present, he added.
He said the assumption of high ratio of crop arrival in next five months was totally baseless and contrary to the ground realities, adding it had never happened in the past, as major cotton areas in Sindh had already concluded. Describing about the negative impact of the report, he said there was no seller or buyer during last two days, therefore cotton rate had dropped drastically.