According to figures from the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, the nation’s cotton production is down 34% from last year’s crop output (PCGA).
The final data for the crop year 20222023 reveal that Pakistan produced 4,912,069 bales of cotton, the lowest amount in around four decades, compared to 7,441,833 bales during the 20212022 season, a decrease of 2,528,764 bales or 34%.
Its yearly need for 15 million bales, the textile sector will have to import around 10 million bales. Nevertheless, mill consumption for 20222023 has also been estimated at 8.8 million bales, the lowest level in more than 20 years.
Market sources claim that while the textile mills have so far bought 4,605,449 bales from the domestic market, they have inked import deals for 5.5 million bales. 7,332,000 bales were purchased by the mills from the domestic market last year.
Ginners claim that they still have 301,720 bales in stock, compared to a 93,833 bale inventory from the previous year.
The enormous decline in cotton arrival is attributed to flash floods and torrential rains that wreaked havoc on wide areas of the nation’s agricultural land during the previous monsoon, notably in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.
Surprisingly, just 4,900 bales of white lint could be shipped this year compared to 11,000 bales the year before, a decrease of nearly 69 percent, despite a robust demand in overseas markets. Pakistan’s raw cotton is mostly exported to the Philippines, Italy, Bangladesh, Greece, and France.
In terms of output per province, Punjab had a fall of nearly 32 percent from the previous year, producing 3,033,050 bales this season compared to 3,928,690 bales the year before.
The province of Sindh showed a yield reduction of almost 46% year over year as lint output this year was 1,879,019 bales compared to 3,513,143 bales last year.
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