Cotton stockpiling reaches 1.79 million bales by Sept 1

KARACHI: The country stockpiled 1.79 million bales up till September 1, 2021, a report showed on Friday, with 100 percent increase expected by the mid of this month.

The first fortnightly report of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association said that out of the total, 1.51 million bales were sold to the mills, 200 to the exporters, while 280,388 bales were in stocks.

Sources in the industry expected arrivals of around 2.22 million bales by September 15, which would be an increase of around 100 percent, compared with 1.03 million bales in the same period last year.

Sindh contributed 1.21 million bales in the total arrivals led by Hyderabad district with 91,061 bales, followed by Sanghar with 85,3091 bales and Nawabshah with 80,000 bales.

Analysts said the crop size would reach 9.5 million bales if weather conditions remained favourable. This year, the cotton season was early. Due to attractive rates of phutti (seed-cotton), farmers gave full attention to their crops. Besides, expected good weather can further help the crop, the analyst added.

“Currently, the crop is very promising and fruiting is excellent,” he said. However, the estimate given for Punjab by the cotton committee was too pessimistic. “Farmers are vigilant nowadays for any kind of pest attack and the market price is supporting them,” he added.

Karachi Cotton Brokers Association Chairman Naseem Usman said the cotton crop was satisfactory in the country, the weather remained suitable and pest attacks were low compared with the past years. “Per acre yield is also higher this year and seed-cotton prices are increased, while more ginning factories have commenced operations.”

On the other hand, Cotton Crop Assessment Committee held this season’s first meeting on September 1. It revised the cotton production target with a reduction of 2.0 million bales to 8.5 million bales from earlier estimates of 10.5 million bales.

One analyst said that since it was the start of the season, nothing could be said regarding the estimated production. Crop production might improve, he said.