LAHORE, Sept 8: The Trading Corporation of Pakistan has sold 100,000 bales of cotton to exporters at an average price of Rs2,177 a maund, Rs169 cheaper than the price at which local mills purchased 1.048 million bales from the corporation.
Aptma sources said the local mills had paid an average rate of Rs2,346 per maund to acquire cotton from the TCP.
“It means that the TCP has subsidized our competitors — India and others — by selling cotton to the exporters at a cheaper rate in the name of supporting cotton farmers,” he complained.
The TCP is said to have acquired about 1.5 million bales or 10 per cent of the total crop under the federal government decision. The government had told the TCP to intervene in the cotton market to support its price in view of a record crop in the last season. The government had decided to intervene in the market for ensuring that the growers received a fair rate for their crop.
“The TCP intends to sell another 50,000 bales of cotton to the exporters in the coming days. We demand that the next lot must be sold to the exporters at the Karachi Cotton Association spot rates,” said a senior Aptma official.
He said the country’s textile industry was already fighting off inflationary pressures in the form of excessively high energy and utility prices, high interest costs, etc.
“In the present circumstances how can you expect us to compete in the international markets, with a government agency subsidizing our competitors,” said the official.
