Cotton arrival in Pakistan increased 54% year-on-year, showed the latest fortnightly data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginner's Association (PCGA) on Friday.Chairman of PCGA Suhail Mehmood Haral said here today. He was optimistic that farmers would return to cotton because farmers have earned profit this year which has helped in strengthening the economy.
He said that total cotton arrivals surged to 7.168 million bales as of December 1, 2021, compared to 4.648 million bales in the same period last year, a difference of 2.52 million bales.Seed cotton (Phutti) equivalent to over 7.168 million or exactly 7,168,118 bales has reached ginning factories across the country till Dec 1, 2021, registering a 54.22 per cent increase compared to corresponding period last year.According to fortnightly report of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) released to media on Friday, Punjab arrival figures stood at 3.67 million or 3,679,016 bales, showing increase by 39.65 per cent, while Sindh province registered 73.28 per cent surge with contribution of over 3.48 million or 3,489,102 bales. Report says Phutti equivalent to just over 7 million or 7,025,515 bales has undergone the ginning and pressing process at factories. Over 6.69 million or 6,694,591 bales have been sold out with major chunk of it, 6.67 million (6,678,591) bales bought by textile mills and 16,000 by exporters. Exactly 473,527 bales were lying unsold at the ginneries. Sanghar district in Sindh remained on top of the list registering arrival of over 1.3 million or exactly 1,314,672 bales while Punjab district of Bahawalnagar stood second with the figure of just over a million cotton bales. Total 345 ginning factories were operational in the country including 162 in Sindh and 183 in Punjab.
Cotton is crucial for Pakistan's textile sector that accounts for 3.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to 7.5% for Bangladesh, 5.1% for Sri Lanka, 12% for Cambodia and 3.5% for Turkey, stated the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its report, “Global Value Chain, Development Report 2021, Beyond Production.”
Meanwhile, as per the PCGA data, cotton arrivals reported a substantial increase in Punjab and Sindh — the major cotton-producing provinces of the country.Over 6.8mn bales of cotton reach ginneries, up 70 YoY: PCGA Chairman.
As of December 1, cotton arrival in Punjab was 3.679 million bales compared to 2.634 million bales in the same period last year, an increase of 1.045 million bales or 40%. On a monthly basis, cotton arrival recorded an increase of 25% as compared to 2.935 million bales on November 1.
Similarly, cotton arrival in Sindh reached 3.489 million bales as compared to 2.014 million bales reported in the same period last year, an increase of 1.475 million bales or 73%. On a monthly basis, cotton arrival recorded an increase of 5% as compared to 3.321 million bales on November 1.