Cotton arrivals rise 19pc to 2.4m bales by September mid

Cotton arrivals at ginning factories climbed 19 per cent to 2.389 million bales by September 15, according to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association. Dawn reported that this was up from 2.004 million bales a year earlier, marking the strongest early-season start in several years. Cotton Ginners Forum chairman Ihsanul Haq expects national output could top 6 million bales this season, against roughly 5.5 million last year.

Punjab recorded 860,942 bales, a rise of 24.73 per cent, while arrivals in Sindh reached 1.528 million bales, up 16.25 per cent. Haq pointed to an unusual gap, noting that Sanghar district alone had 888,607 bales, more than all Punjab factories combined, which he linked to rapid sugarcane expansion in Punjab. He also highlighted a wider mismatch with the Punjab Crop Reporting Service, which reported 1.483 million bales by September 17, about 72 per cent above the ginners' figure.

Analyst Sajid Mahmood said the crop had entered a critical stage, with the final output depending on pink bollworm, rainfall, picking and lint quality. Domestic prices have weakened, with lint falling by about Rs1,000 per maund to Rs18,600 in Punjab and Rs18,400 in Sindh, and reports suggest cheaper Brazilian cotton has encouraged some mills to import more. Both analysts view the crop as having substantial promise, though experts say the final picture will only clarify once picking and ginning end.