LAHORE: Cotton picking has started in most coastal towns of Sindh and a few areas of Punjab as some ginners have announced making their factories operational in the first week of June.

Though picking during the last season had begun a few days earlier than this season, the volume of cotton arrivals in the market was much more than this May.

However, the downward trend of cotton prices in the local and foreign markets has not abated, sending a wave of concern among the entire cotton sector that cotton may also face a wheat-like future in the country.

Badin, Thatta, Mirpur Sakro, Tando Bago, Gharo, Chor Jamali, and Jhado are among the Sindh towns where cotton picking has started. At the same time, there are also reports that cotton harvesting has begun in some Punjab towns.

Growers fear they won’t get just compensation for their produce

A few ginners in the Sanghar district of Sindh and the Burewala City of Punjab have announced they will operationalise their factories in the first week of June.

Cotton market sources say that due to the severe economic crisis across the country, more than 50 per cent of textile mills are inactive, while the price on the US Cotton Exchange has fallen to the lowest level of 75 cents per pound in one and a half years.

Advance deals of phutti [raw cotton] had been settled up to Rs11,000 per 40 kg, now these are being traded at around Rs9,500 per 40kg, while the prices of lint have dropped from Rs22,000 per maund to Rs19,500 per maund. There are indications of a further decline in the prices, they say.

Cotton Ginners Forum chairman Ihsanul Haq says that the leaders of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association and All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association had held a long discussion in Karachi a few days ago in which leaders of both the organisations agreed that if electricity, taxes, and markup rates were not reduced for the entire cotton sector, it would be almost impossible for these industries to remain operational further weakening the national economy. He regrets that the cotton growers will also not get due compensation for their produce like wheat.

He claims that due to the textile sector crisis, payments worth tens of millions of rupees are still outstanding against some textile millers for the lint they purchased from the ginners in the last season, even though the new season has set in.

He fears that this ‘default’ may further exacerbate the serious crisis the cotton sector is facing.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2024