January 05, 2024 (MLN): Cotton arrivals in Pakistan reached 8.171 million bales as of December 31, 2023, the latest data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) showed.
In comparison to the data for December 03, in which the total arrivals were 8.024m bales, cotton arrivals have increased by 1.83%.
However, on a year-on-year basis, arrivals have surged by 77.14% YoY compared to the 4.613m cotton arrivals recorded in the Same Period Last Year (SPLY).
It is crucial to note that cotton prices have witnessed a record increase of Rs1,500 per maund and currently stand at 19,500 per maund.
Additionally, in the futures market, the contracts are being quoted at around Rs20,000 per maund.
According to the data made available by PCGA, Sindh province has taken the lead as the major cotton producer in Pakistan.
Cotton arrivals from Sindh province inched up by 0.49% compared to the data from December 15, reaching 4.09m bales.
Meanwhile, cotton arrivals from Punjab province, another key cotton-producing region, increased by 3.01% to 4.079m bales.
The data released further showed that textile companies bought 7.314m bales while exporters bought 289,000 bales.
Moreover, there are currently 302 ginning factories operating in the industry.
It is important to highlight that the data for arrivals on December 15, 2022, was not collected by the association. As a result, a year-on-year comparison is not applicable.
Pakistan is among the top ten cotton-producing countries in the world, and cotton and textile products are among the country’s major exports. However, output still stands below expectations.
