Cotton adulteration puts Pakistan’s textile exports at risk, industry warns

Ginning units are accused of large-scale cotton adulteration, alarming Pakistan’s textile sector and prompting some major mills to halt local buying. Dawn reported that ginners in several areas, notably Sanghar district in Sindh, are allegedly blending large volumes of cotton waste into raw stock. The problem grew through the 2025-26 season after monitoring was paused when a criminal case was registered against a monitoring team of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association in Tando Adam.

Team members have since applied for bail at the Sindh High Court’s Hyderabad bench, which has effectively frozen active monitoring. Laboratory staff at some mills are alleged to have taken bribes from ginners and passed tainted bales as good-quality cotton, prompting owners to fire those teams and order fresh checks of warehouse stock. In one case, a Dera Ghazi Khan mill received 200 bales with a heavy share of waste earlier this week.

Cotton Ginners Forum chairman Ihsan-ul-Haq said the practice, known as “burger cotton”, is damaging the quality of cotton available to the industry. Industry sources warned that reduced local buying could add pressure on raw and seed cotton prices and deepen reliance on imports. They called for action against ginners involved and tighter quality monitoring to protect textile exports.