Subdued trading activity on cotton market

LAHORE: The local cotton market on Saturday remained bullish while the trading volume remained low.

Cotton Analyst Nasseem Usman while talking to Business Recorder said that price of Punjab’s Phutti attracted per 40 kilograms prices from Rs 7000 to Rs 9000. Cotton of Sindh was traded from Rs 18000 to Rs 20,000 per maund, Punjab’s cotton was traded from Rs 18000 to Rs 20,000 per maund. He also told that 400 bales of Fort Abbas were sold at Rs 19200 per maund and 400 bales of Pano Aqil were sold at Rs 21500 per maund.

Cotton arrival in Pakistan increased 32.4% year-on-year, showed the latest fortnightly data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginner’s Association (PCGA) on Friday.

As per the report, total cotton arrivals surged to 7.434 million bales as of February 15, 2021, compared to 5.616 million bales in the same period last year, a difference of 1.82 million bales.

Cotton arrival in Punjab was 3.922 million bales compared to 3.480 million bales in the same period last year, an increase of 0.442 million bales or 13%. On a fortnightly basis, cotton arrival recorded a marginal increase of 0.3% as compared to 3.908 million bales on February 1.

Similarly, cotton arrival in Sindh reached 3.512 million bales on February 15, as compared to 2.135 million bales reported in the same period last year, an increase of 1.377 million bales or 64%. On a fortnightly basis, cotton arrival from Sindh remained almost unchanged.

Cotton is crucial for Pakistan’s textile sector, which accounts for a lion’s share of the country’s exports. The textile sector alone accounts for 3.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the South Asian country, as per the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Pakistan’s textile group exports witnessed 24.73% growth during the first seven months (July-January) of the current fiscal year and remained $10.933 billion compared to $8.765 billion during the same period of the last fiscal year, shared data published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Thursday.

On a year-on-year basis, textile group exports witnessed 17.29% growth in January 2022, when compared to $1.323 billion in January 2021. The Spot Rate remained unchanged at Rs 20,100 per maund. Polyester Fiber was available at Rs 268 per kg.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022