October 21, 2006	Saturday	Ramazan 27, 1427

MULTAN, Oct 20: Phutti arrivals into ginneries recorded a fall of 2.9 per cent to 2.468 million bales till October 15 as compared to 2.541 million bales of last year.

The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) here on Friday said that currently 806 ginning factories were operating in the country, 644 in the Punjab and 162 in Sindh.

The Punjab province had shown an excess of 9.62 per cent production with 1.651 million bales, Sindh province had registered a major decline of 21.12 per cent with an output of 0.816 million bales.

Intermittent heavy rains and floods in Sindh damaged the cotton crop over a vast tract of land leading to the drastic shortfall in production.

Textile mills purchases indicate a brisk trend this year, with to-date purchase amounting 1.682 million bales compared to last year’s 1.614 million bales.

Exporters, however, were slow in buying the silver fibre, having so far purchased 23,900 bales compared to last year's 30,000 bales till Oct 15.

Unsold stocks lying at the ginneries include 0.205 million bales of lint and 0.555 million bales of un-ginned phutti.

According to the PCGA sources, the approximate existing rates of lint and phutti on the open market were Rs2,400-2,450 and Rs1,100 per 40 kg respectively in the Punjab.—APP