September 18, 2019: Cotton arrivals in the local markets have gone down by 26.41% as of September 15, 2019, as about 1.8 million cotton bales reached ginneries all over Pakistan, as compared to 2.5 million bales recorded in same period of last year.
The slow crop arrival in the local markets was mainly attributed to the low pricing trend in the markets, coupled with delay in the announcement of the minimum support prices for the crop by the government.
According to the latest data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginner's Association (PCGA), the cotton arrival from Punjab decreased by 38.95%, while arrival from Sindh and Balochistan decreased by 18.42%.
Out of the total arrived cotton, about 1.6 million bales were pressed, whereas 1.5 million bales were sold. This resulted in an unsold cotton stock of 85 thousand bales.
Commenting on the slow cotton arrival in the domestic market, Cotton Commissioner in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research Dr. Khalid Abdullah said that delay in cotton support price was the main factor in decrease of commodity prices in local markets.
He said that due to decreasing price trend in the local markets, the farmers were discouraged to cultivate the crop and area under crop cultivation had decreased during current sowing season.
However, he said that as soon as the government announces minimum indicative price of the commodity, it would help in stabilization of cotton prices in the local markets.
Dr. Khalid further said that cotton crop output during current season was expected to reach 12 million bales as against the set targets of 12.72 million bales.
The cotton sowing target for the current crop season (2019-20) was fixed at 2.78 million hectares, Punjab and Sindh had the main covered areas with crop.
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