Cotton arrivals rise to 4.7m bales by Oct 31

Dawn reported that cotton deliveries to ginning factories reached 4.742 million bales by Oct 31, up 6.88 per cent from 4.437 million a year earlier. The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association put Punjab’s total at 1.999 million bales, while Sindh and Balochistan combined contributed more than 2.743 million; Balochistan’s arrivals rose 35.41 per cent.

Textile mills had bought 3.997 million bales and exporters 98,000, leaving 648,034 bales unsold. Cotton Ginners Forum chairman Ihsanul Haq said the crop could top six million bales, but heat and the spread of sugarcane in cotton-growing districts were affecting fibre quality and the crop’s recovery. He also cited discrepancies between PCGA and Punjab Crop Reporting Service figures, and said power tariffs, interest rates and imports of Chinese fabric and yarn were adding pressure on textile businesses.