Daily Times

Cotton arrival in Pakistan registered a slight increase of 0.3% on February 15 compared to January 31, as per the latest fortnightly data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginner’s Association (PCGA) on Monday.

Total cotton arrival in Pakistan rose to 8.38 million bales as of February 15 compared to 8.35 million bales recorded on January 31, 2024, an increase of 0.03 million bales.

A year-on-year comparison was not available, as data was not collected on February 15, 2023, 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 marginal increase from Punjab.

As of February 15, cotton arrival in Punjab clocked in at 4.27 million bales as compared to 4.24 million bales reported on January 31, 2023, an increase of 0.6%.

Similarly, cotton arrival in Sindh was 4.12 million bales compared to 4.11 million bales recorded on January 31, an increase of 0.03 million bales or 0.1%.

Earlier, the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) expressed its deep concern over the government’s decision to increase the captive gas price to Rs 2,750/Mmbtu and supply industry with a 35:65 domestic gas/RLNG blend, taking the price of captive power generation well above regionally competitive levels.

APTMA said the international competitiveness of Pakistan’s textiles and apparel exports is being continuously eroded by ever-increasing energy prices that are over twice those in competing regional economies.

The association said that production at these rates is not financially feasible and we are rapidly losing market share to countries like Bangladesh, India and Vietnam that have significantly lower energy tariffs.