KARACHI: Pakistan has so far produced 14.863m cotton bales this season, a rise of 11 per cent (1.473m more bales) compared to 13.39m bales a year earlier, the ginners’ association said in its fortnightly report on Saturday.

Punjab’s cotton output has risen by 13.07pc (1.258m bales) year-on-year to 10.889m bales, while Sindh’s by 5.7pc (214,368 more bales) to 3.974m bales.

Due to larger crop size, around 23 ginning units are operating in Punjab at present compared to only 14 in the same period last year, while two units are operational in Sindh compared to nil last year.

The flow of phutti during last fortnight (April 1 to 15) was 25,358 bales, compared to just 4,953 bales during the same fortnight a year ago.

The cotton consumption this season has also remained higher, with the spinning industry purchasing around 13.953m bales this season compared to 12.436m bales a year earlier.

The unsold cotton stocks lying with ginners are at 340,826 bales as against 560,816 bales last season.

However, the most disturbing factor for the industry is delay in the arrival of new cotton crop (2015-16) as longer spell of rains in Punjab and extended winter season in Sindh has delayed sowing.

According to analysts, the next cotton crop would not be available in the market before end-July or early August, which means the industry would have to wait for more than three months before the arrival of new phutti.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2015

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