Karachi Although the overall cotton production has recorded an increase, the 30 percent drop in production between October 1 and 15 has raised concerns of a further decline in cotton production in the coming days, which has led to a rise in the prices of cotton, cottonseed and oilcake.
According to the difference in the figures of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association and Crop Reporting Services Punjab regarding cotton production in Punjab remains at around 100 percent.
Chairman Cotton Ginners Forum Ehsan-ul-Haq said that according to the figures released by PCGA regarding the overall cotton production, a total of 3.796 million bales have been delivered to ginning factories across the country by October 15, due to an increase of 22 percent. However, 751 thousand bales were delivered to ginning factories between October 1 and 15.
He said that during the period under review, 1.52 million bales were received in the ginning factories of Punjab while 2.276 million bales were received in Sindh, which is 28 and 19 percent more respectively compared to the same period last year.
The PCGA report also stated that during the said period, textile mills have purchased 3.04 million bales of cotton from ginning factories, while exporters have purchased 1.25 million bales during this period. Currently, 520 ginning factories are active in the country.
Ehsanul Haq said that due to the high cotton cultivation in Punjab this year and the unexpected increase in temperature, the cotton picking started prematurely. It was obvious that the total national cotton production in Pakistan this year would be higher than last year, but many experts had predicted a decline in cotton production in the production statistics reports coming in October, and the accuracy of this prediction can be analyzed from the latest report of the PCGA.
He said that the total cotton production during October 1 to 15 is 30 percent lower than the same period last year, while the total domestic production, which was 49 percent higher than last year on September 30, has now decreased to 22 percent higher. Similarly, cotton production in Punjab, which was 56 percent higher in the previous report, is now 28 percent higher, while Sindh’s production has decreased from 45 percent higher to only 19 percent higher.
It is feared that the total domestic cotton production in the production report coming a month later will be lower than last year.
He said that due to the lower than expected cotton production in the recent report, the prices of cotton seed and oil cake have now reached the level of Rs 3,600 and Rs 3,100 per maund, respectively, due to an increase of Rs 100 to 200 per maund, while cotton prices are also likely to show an upward trend from the new week starting Monday.
According to the PCGA report, 1.52 million bales of cotton have been produced in Punjab till October 15, while according to the CRS report, this production is 3.081 million bales, which is more than 100% compared to the PCGA report, which is causing difficulties for cotton stakeholders in determining the basis of their strategy.