High temperatures in the initial months (June and July) destroyed crop in Punjab and Sindh provinces, the main cotton growing regions in the country. The subsequent unusually heavy rains caused diseases like white fly and pink ball worm resulting in heavy losses in the crop. This double blow has prompted the textile industry to ramp up cotton imports from the global market. Cotton growing farmers were also discouraged by the absence of government support.
Cotton arrival began in July 2024, as they did last year. The flow of arrivals was quite slow during the initial period of the current season.
As per PCGA, a provincial breakdown of the data showed that Sindh province recorded cotton arrivals of 1.313 million bales up to September 30, 2024, which was 55.56 per cent lower than the 2.955 million bales recorded up to September 30, 2023. Meanwhile, Punjab witnessed the arrival of 626,767 bales, compared to 2,069,433 bales as of September 30, 2023. Thus, Pakistan’s second-largest cotton-growing region has seen a sharp drop of 64.88 per cent during the current season.
The country reported a cotton arrival of 8.396 million bales during the last marketing year 2023-24, which was 70.94 per cent higher than the aggregate arrival of 4.912 million bales in 2022-23, as documented in the final arrival data of the PCGA. In 2022-23 season, cotton production in Pakistan had witnessed a steep decline as heavy rains had damaged the crop.
ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)
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