Faisalabad December 3 2022: As per the latest data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginner’s Association (PCGA), the cotton arrival in the country decreased by 40.2 percent YoY and reached at 4.2 million bales as of 1st December 2022 due to catastrophic climate changes resulting in above normal rainfalls causing floods.
Flood-related cotton losses are expected to weigh on the domestic textile industry, as local cotton constitutes about half of the industry’s required cotton input. Textiles account for around one-quarter of total industry output and more than half of goods exports, according to government flood assessment report.
The floods will also exacerbate existing external pressures. Around 50 percent of the required cotton input for the local textile industry is sourced domestically. With reduced supplies of domestic cotton, cotton imports are expected to increase to mitigate the shortage.
The country has received nearly 190% more rain than the 30-year average in the quarter through August this year, totalling 390.7 millimetres (15.38 inches).
The horrendous floods that hit many areas of Pakistan back in August 2022, affecting 33 million people and an estimated cost of more than $25 billion of infrastructural damage and fosses- floods have also affected the Cotton crop. Sindh province, with a population of 50 million, was hardest hit, getting 466% more rain than the 30-year average.
Pre-flood estimates of Cotton production were to exceed 9 million bales, whereas in the present situation 6 million bales after an estimated loss of 3 million bales are to be expected, as per All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA). But in the current situation 5.0 million seems difficult says cotton experts.
Cotton arrival in Punjab reached at 2.5 million bales as of 1st December 2022 compared to 3.6 million bales in the same period last year, witnessed decrease of 1.1 million bales or 31.6 percent. Cotton arrivals from Bahawalnagar and Bahawalpur districts witnessed decrease of 546 thousand bales (54.66 percent year on year) and 216 thousand bales (43.3 percent year on year), respectively as of 1st December 2022.
Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi has said that six per cent of the cotton crop has been affected by rains and floods in the province.
Cotton arrival in Sindh reached 1.76 million bales on 1st December 2022, compared to 3.4 million bales as of 1st December 2021, decline by 49.4 percent YoY and in absolute term 1.72 million bales.
Additional Cotton requirement will be sourced from countries that have a surplus due to the global recession – Turkey is one example of the biggest cotton importer, currently exporting instead. Currently, cotton is being procured from the United States of America, West Africa, Brazil and Afghanistan and various other countries.
