Cotton arrivals surge by 25.48pc in current season: PCGA

Cotton arrivals across Pakistan climbed 25.48 percent this season, reaching 1,113,513 bales by August 15. The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association put the figure in a report dated August 18, against 887,401 bales in the same period last year. Business Recorder also noted that operational ginning factories rose nearly 10 percent to 268.

Punjab posted a modest 2.61 percent gain, while Sindh and Balochistan together jumped 41.80 percent, led by Sanghar district. Sajid Mahmood of the Central Cotton Research Institute in Multan welcomed the trend but warned that final output will hinge on weather and market conditions. He urged a national plan covering research, good seed, water supply and profitable prices, arguing that growers invest only when markets are reliable and returns fair.

Naseem Usman, who chairs the Karachi Cotton Brokers Forum, said underlying market factors are gradually strengthening, pointing to firm demand from mills, modest pressed cotton inventories and buoyant overseas quotations. PCGA figures show mills bought about 938,000 bales, leaving 162,696 bales in stock, of which 94,488 bales are phutti and 68,208 bales pressed cotton. He also said international cotton trading near 85 cents per pound makes imports costlier for local mills, which helps underpin domestic rates.