3.5 million bales cotton imported in August-March period

Cotton imports for August-March (2007-08) period amount to 3.5 million bales, which cost Rs 55 billion, while in the corresponding period of last year total imports had come to 1.9 million bales at a cost Rs 27 billion, it is learnt.
From India, 1.8 million bales of short staple cotton were imported which cost Rs 28 billion, while the rest of cotton (long staple) was imported from USA, Brazil and Egypt. A further import of 0.5-0.6 million bales is expected within the next 2-3 months.
The government alleges that the private sector prefers imported cotton. However, the reality is that domestic output is inadequate to meet the demand. "The cotton rate in international market has increased by 50 percent compared to last year and we are forced to import cotton because our local cotton production does not fulfil the requirements of the textile industry", a textile industrialist said.
He added that imported cotton is priced higher than Pakistani cotton by Rs 150-200 per maund, or 52-61 cents per pound. Cotton price in Sindh has increased from Rs 3250 to Rs 3450 per maund while in Punjab it has gone up from Rs 3250 to Rs 3600 per maund.
The import of 4 million bales, together with local production of 12 million bales, will be sufficient to meet the demand of 16 million bales. The production target of cotton of 14.11 million bales set for the year 2008-09 by the government is impossible to achieve in the absence of mealy bug-resistant variety of cotton and the essential sprays against attacks of CLCV.
The overall production of 12 million bales in 2007-08 against the revised target of 12.8 million bales is indicative of the fact that in 2008-09 the situation may remain the same and no improvement could be observed with respect to the attacks of mealy and CLCV.
It is estimated that in the next fiscal year cotton cultivation will be on 3.2 million hectares, with a total yield of 750 kg per hectare. Around 2.52 million hectares will be devoted to cultivation of cotton in Punjab for the target production of 11 million bales with a total anticipated yield of 742 kg per hectare. In Sindh, 0.63 million hectares will be devoted to cotton cultivation with total expected production of 3 million bales and total anticipated yield of 809 kg per hectare.