Daily Times

Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), Pattron-in-Chief, Khurram Mukhtar said textile industry has picked up a growing pace witnessing a sharp surge of 4.18% year-on-year to $ 3.05 billion in the first two months of FY 2023.

However, emergence of an economic crisis will be an instant setback, coupled with rising manufacturing expenses and escalating prices and shortage of raw material are among various factors which may hit the growing trend. Government must accord immediate remedial measures by lifting the ban on import of Indian cotton to meet its industrial requirements.

He said torrential rains and floods had engulfed Pakistan’s cotton fields resulting in irreparable loss to the sector.

A total of 25 percent of the standing cotton crop over 210,000 acres of land has been affected due to the floods and there is a possibility of raw material shortage in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s textile sector requires about 12-14 million cotton bales annually and local cotton production is expected to remain around 6.5 million to 7.5 million bales this year. He said we have to import 1.5 million additional bales during the current year. Chairman, PTEA, Sohail Pasha said ban on cross border trade with India is hurting the crisis-hit country in the wake of floods which has caused scarcity of commodities and pushed up prices and textile exporters are forced to pay a higher price for raw materials.

Cotton import from other countries like US, Brazil and Egypt is not only expensive but it would also take one to two months to reach Pakistan. Whereas importing cotton from India would be far cheaper and would reach Pakistan within three to four days, he claimed.

Opening the cross-border trade would allow imports of agricultural crops from India so that our country’s food needs and also the industry’s agricultural input requirements could be met immediately.