Cotton stocks dip

KARACHI: Cotton arrivals in the ginneries have been recorded at 5.64 million bales by May 1, the lowest arrivals in three decades, traders said on Monday.

According to the fortnightly report of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), total arrivals were recorded at 5.64 million bales during this period. There was no comparison with the last year’s arrivals, as the data were not collected during this period due to a lockdown in the country.

Last year, total production of 8.7 million bales was recorded, while this year, the country would face a shortage of 3 million bales.

Of these arrivals, 70,200 bales were exported, while 5.53 million bales were sold to the textile mills.

Monthly flows (April 1 to May 1) have been recorded at 672 bales only, while all the ginning factories have closed their operations. This year, a total of 3.5 million bales arrived from Punjab, while Sindh contributed 2.1 million bales in the national production.

Traders said the new cotton season would start from June 15 and more than a dozen factories would start their operations in Sindh in the next 45 days.

If the cotton support price was fixed, it would help improve production, the report added.