Cotton production may exceed target of 13.3m bales

TAHIR AMIN

ISLAMABAD: Cotton production in the country may exceed the estimated target of 13.3 million bales for the current season, industry sources revealed to Business Recorder here on Friday.

The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) has projected cotton production at 13.3 million bales against the initial estimate of 14.6 million bales for the current season 2012-13. However, over 12 million cotton bales have reached the market up to January 15, 2013 for local consumption as well as for exports as compared to the 12.829 million bales in same period last year. About 1.58 million bales remained unsold in the local market up to January 15 while 2.39 million cotton bales were exported from July-November 2012.

Combining the arrival and unsold cotton figure revealed that more than 13.3 million cotton bales arrival has been reported, however it weigh 150 kg against the standard weight of 170 kg. In the last meeting of CCAC, Secretary Textile Industry who is also chairman of CCAC urged PCGA and other stakeholders to standardize the weight of bale at 170 kg against 150 kg.

Still three months remain in ending of the current season and it is expected that cotton production would easily exceed the projected estimates for the current year, officials sources revealed.

Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) has estimated that about 8.78 million bales arrived from Punjab, against 10.3 million bales recorded during the same period last year. Cotton arrival from the Sindh in the local markets registered increasing trend as it was recorded at 3.29 million bales as compared to the last year’s arrival of 2.5 million bales.

Out of the total about 2 million bales have been sold to the exporters and 10.2 million bales to the local textile industry for fulfilling its requirements as well as exporting the textile products.

Cotton exports were recorded at 3.5 million bales during the same period of last financial year while import of cotton in the country registered increasing trend as it was up by 71.87 percent as compared to the period from July-November when about 539,212 cotton bales were imported against the imports of 313,724 bales in the same period last year.

It is pertinent to note that PCGA has rejected the CCAC projected estimate and termed it an exaggeration.

Earlier, CCAC had upwardly revised the projected cotton production target to 13.3 million bales against the 12.66 million bales projected in the preceding month. It is less than the initial estimate of 14.6 million bales for the current season 2012-13. The projected estimate is also less than the preceding year’s output of 13.59 million bales.