KARACHI: The Spot Rate Committee of the Karachi Cotton Association on Monday has increased the spot rate by Rs 100 per maund and closed it at Rs 9500 per maund. The local cotton market remained bullish on Monday. Cotton Analyst Naseem Usman told that market volume has increased.

Naseem also told that Pakistan's textile exports seem to have largely recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic shocks and are still growing. The recent monthly data published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics for the first four months of the current financial year confirms that the textile and clothing export shipments are back on growth trajectory both in terms of their quantity and dollar value.

The data shows that the textile shipments have surged by 3.8 per cent to $4.8 billion between July and October from $4.6bn a year ago. The rise in the textile and clothing group has been a wee faster than the 0.6pc growth in the overall export. The export recovery is most prominent in the knitwear, home textiles and denim segments.

Moreover, Pakistan has been one of the major textile producing and exporting country for over five decades. By now, we should have been a major global provider of skilled and managerial talent to the newly emerging and aspiring developing countries trying to establish themselves in this field.

However, the reality is opposite and our own industrial sectors consider the shortage of skilled manpower as big issue as the rising cost of production which affects their global competitiveness as much as the others. To overcome the skill shortages, many manufacturers have instituted on-the-job training at their factories, Faisal Mehboob Sh, Chairman Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) (North Zone) said in a press statement.

Naseem further told that in 2020-21, Pakistan is still the fifth largest cotton producing country in the world, but the gap from the top four producers continues to widen. In fact, in the current marketing season, Pakistan's cotton output will be only two-fifths of Brazil, down from just three seasons ago, when the two countries were tied for the fourth position.

Pakistan's cotton problem is not that of acreage, which is only symptomatic of a crop becoming deeply unattractive for growers - as has been established in this space ad museum. Similarly, while other competing nations have also expanded acreage under the crop, their output has grown primarily on increasing productivity, a challenge that is conspicuous by its absence from domestic discourse.

Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) Multan scientists have developed four new high-yielding and virus-resistant Bt cotton varieties that can successfully fight adverse circumstances and are climate smart to some extent.

The varieties were now undergoing last year of the two-year national varietal trials that was mandatory before its final approval by the Punjab Seed Council (PSC) and had so far shown good results from 26 demonstration fields from across the cotton belt in Sindh and Punjab for their performance assessment, CCRI Multan spokesman Sajid Mahmood said in a statement on Monday.

Quoting CCRI Multan director Dr Zahid Mahmood, Sajid said, the seed of these varieties would be available from Dec 15, 2020 for sowing for next cotton season, 2021-22 at the official price of Rs250 per kilogram.

Naseem told that 400 bales of Adil Pur were sold at Rs 9425 per maund, 400 bales of Ghotki were sold at Rs 9450, 600 bales of Dherki were sold at Rs 9300, 200 bales of Pannu Aqil were sold at Rs 9400, 600 bales of Mehrab Pur were sold at Rs 8600 to Rs 9000, 1400 bales of Sui Gas were sold at Rs 8900, 2000 bales of Kandiaro were sold at Rs 8900, 1000 bales of Rani Pur were sold at Rs 8900, 600 bales of Khan Pur were sold at Rs 9750, 2600 bales of Rahim Yar Khan were sold at Rs 9550 to Rs 9700, 1600 bales of Sadiqabad were sold at Rs 9550 were sold at Rs 9550 to Rs 9700, 600 bales of Bago Bahar, 600 bales of Marrot were sold at Rs 9600, 400 bales of Jalal Pur were sold at Rs 9650, 400 bales of Liaquat Pur were sold at Rs 9550, 400 bales of Faqeer Wali were sold at Rs 9500, 200 bales of Haroonabad were solds at Rs 9450 to Rs 9500, 800 bales of Fort Abbas were sold at Rs 9500, 100 bales of Yazman Mandi were sold at Rs 9275 to Rs 9450, 400 bales of Khanewal were sold at Rs 9400, 658 bales of Muhammad Pur Dewan were sold at Rs 9400, 400 bales of Mianwali were sold at Rs 9300 per maund, 400 bales of Shadan Lund were sold at Rs 9300, 800 bales of Bahawal Pur were sold at Rs 9275 and 200 bales of Layyah were sold at Rs 9000.

He told that rate of cotton in Sindh was in between Rs 8600 to Rs 9500 per maund. The rate of cotton in Punjab is in between Rs 8800 to Rs 9600 per maund . He also told that Phutti of Sindh was sold in between Rs 3200 to Rs 4400 per 40 kg. The rate of Phutti in Punjab is in between Rs 3500 to Rs 5100 per 40 Kg.

The rate of Banola in Sindh was in between Rs 1300 to Rs 1700 while the price of Banola in Punjab was in between Rs 1650 to Rs 2000. The rate of cotton in Balochistan is in between Rs 8600 to Rs 9200 while the rate of Phutti is in between Rs 4200 to Rs 5000.

The Spot Rate Committee of the Karachi Cotton Association has increased the spot rate by Rs 100 per maund and closed it at Rs 9500 per maund. The rate of Polyester Fiber was increased by Rs 3 per Kg and was available at Rs 168 per Kg.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020

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