Pakistan sees lowest output of cotton in four decades
The country has produced 34 per cent less cotton this year as compared with the crop yield last season, reveals data with Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA). The final figures for the crop year 2022-23 show that Pakistan produced 4,912,069 bales, the lowest in around four decades, of cotton against 7,441,833 in the 2021-22 season, a year-on-year decline of 2,528,764 bales or 34pc loss. It means the textile industry will have to import around 10 million bales to satiate its annual hunger for 15m bales. However, mill consumption in the year 2022-23 has also been reported at 8.8m bales, the lowest in over 20 years, mainly because of severe import financing issues. Market sources say the textile mills have so far signed import agreements for 5.5m bales, whereas they have purchased 4,605,449 bales from the local market. Last year, the mills had bought 7,332,000 bales from the domestic market. Ginners say they are still holding 301,720 bales in their stocks against last year’s inventory of 93,833 bales. Flash floods and heavy rains during last year monsoon that devastated large swathes of the agricultural land in the country, particularly in Sindh and Balochistan provinces, are blamed for the massive drop in cotton arrival.