Over 6.2 million bales of cotton reach ginneries, up 81% year-on-year: PCGA

Cotton arrival in Pakistan increased by 81%, showed the latest data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginner's Association (PCGA) on Wednesday.

As per the fortnightly report released by PCGA, total cotton arrivals in Pakistan surged to 6.257 million bales as of November 1, 2021, compared to 3.452 million bales in the same period last year, a difference of 2.804 million bales and a growth of 81.24%.

Weeks ago, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research said that the revised cotton production target of 9.3 million bales set for 2021-22 is expected to be met or even exceed.

The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) in September 2021 had revised downward the cotton production target by 19.5% — from 10.5 million bales set for 2021-22 to 8.46 million bales, after missing the sowing target by 13.4 percent.

However, later in October 2021, the CCAC revised upward the crop production to 9.374 million bales for the crop season 2021-22. The sowing target was set at 2.310 million hectares; however, cotton was sown on 1.871 million hectares i.e. 83.2 percent of the sowing target was achieved.

Revised cotton target likely to be met, says ministry

Meanwhile, as per the PCGA data, cotton arrivals reported a substantial increase in both Punjab and Sindh.

As of November 1, cotton arrival in Punjab was 2.935 million bales compared to 1.728 million bales in the same period last year, an increase of 1.206 million bales or 69.83%.

Similarly, cotton arrival in Sindh reached 3.321 million bales as compared to 1.724 million bales reported in the same period last year, an increase of 1.597 million bales or 92.67%.

At the same time, Pakistan’s textile exports touched a historic high level during July to October period of the current fiscal year.

According to details, during the period in review, textile exports reached $6 billion, an increase of 27% compared to the same period last year. Textile exports in October also reached a new record and increased by 25.5% to $1.619 billion.