Pakistan’s cotton arrivals surged by 98 percent year-on-year as of August 31, 2023, clocking in at 3.04 million bales compared to 1.54 million bales in the same period last year, according to data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA).
The country has been experiencing a promising production boom and is expected to reach the ambitious target of 12 million bales in 2023-24.
Punjab Cotton Arrivals stood at 1.06 million bales, posting an increase of 52 percent YoY while Sindh, which has contributed 65 percent to the total arrivals, reported an increase of 136 percent YoY and stands at 1.97 million bales.
Arrivals in Balochistan stood at 70,600 bales while seed cotton converted to bales was recorded at 2.8 million bales. Traders and Exporter bought 168,726 bales Textile mills purchased 2.61 million bales and 257,107 bales unsold bales are present in stocks and 528 factories in total are operational.
Major production areas in Punjab have been Multan (197,100 bales), Lodhran (135,614 bales), Khanewal (129,011 bales), Muzaffargarh (117,849 bales) and Dera Ghazi Khan (96,248 bales).
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Sindh Cotton Arrivals were led by Hyderabad (1.18 million bales), Mirpurkhas (131,756 bales), Sanghar (129,500 bales), Nawabshah (128,859 bales) and Naushero (93,560 bales).The primary contributor to this rise is favorable weather, triple gene varieties introduced in recent years, ample water availability in the rivers, and a rise in the cultivated area due to better prices and rising demand as Textile production peaked during the post-pandemic era.
While industry analysts expect the arrivals to rise in the coming months, the flood situation in Sutlej and its surroundings and the month of September historically characterized by pest attacks will be the key indicators to watch for that can affect arrivals.
The decline of Pakistan’s textile exports continued in the new fiscal year as well, falling by 8.57 percent to $2.057 billion during July 2023 from $2.250 billion during July 2022. The industry is under a multipronged crisis of uncompetitive energy tariffs and record high markup rates so a record of Cotton production might bring a little ease as international prices have also been rising.
