LAHORE: Cotton output increased by 22 per cent by Oct 15 compared to the total production of the crop the previous year, data by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association showed on Wednesday.

However, cotton production decreased by 16pc during this period in Punjab, while there was a record 84pc increase in Sindh.

By Oct 15, a total of 5.99 million bales of cotton have arrived at the ginning factories across the country, which is 1.08m bales or 16pc more than the total production of the previous cotton season.

In Sindh, cotton arrival was noted to be 3.45m bales, which is 84pc more than the total production of lint in the province last year. Sanghar district stands as the largest cotton-producing district, where a total of 1.55m bales or 45pc of Sindh and 26pc of the national production of lint arrived at the ginning factories.

In Punjab, 2.54m bales arrived at the ginning factories during the same period which is 16pc less than the total production of the province last year.

Cotton Ginners Forum chairman Ihsanul Haq attributed the fall to the heavy whitefly attack on the crop due to which cotton production remained much less than the expectations and fears that the total domestic production of cotton this year is expected to be 9m bales instead of the revised target of 11.5m bales.

Local textile mills have bought 4.99m bales from ginning factories, while a foreign firm has procured 0.268m bales of the crop, whereas 0.735m bales are still available for sale with the ginners.

This available cotton stock has almost doubled in the past years when less than 0.4m bales would remain unsold with the ginners.

Mr Haq said the main reason behind this fact is the continuous decrease in the value of the dollar during the last month, along with the constant increase in the prices of electricity and gas, while refunds worth more than Rs700 billion of textile exporters remain outstanding despite many promises.

He said that by the time the Economic Coordination Commi­­ttee approves funds for the Trading Corporation of Pakistan for the procurement of one million bales of cotton, it will be too late to arrest the fall in the cotton prices in the open market.

This, he fears, will serve as a disincentive for the cotton growers and may lead to a decrease in the cotton area under cultivation next year.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2023