Cotton arrivals rise while ginning factories and mills remain largely idle

By October 15, cotton arrivals at Pakistani ginning factories climbed to 4,081,265 bales, an increase of 285,628 bales from the same period last year, according to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association. Punjab and Sindh both recorded rises in arrivals, with Bahawalnagar and Sanghar leading their respective provinces. Nonetheless, the industry is confronting a severe downturn, with around 500 ginning factories, more than 150 textile mills and nearly half of the country's power looms reported as idle.

Leaders attribute the slump to higher production costs and alleged abuse of the Export Facilitation Scheme, claiming imported yarn and fabric intended for re-export are being sold locally, undermining domestic producers. Data from the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association show man-made yarn imports jumping from 3,056 tonnes to 12,773 tonnes and fabric imports rising from 660 to 8,628 tonnes in comparable quarters. Cotton Ginners Forum Chairman Ihsanul Haq warned that bad weather could keep output below forecasts and highlighted discrepancies between PCGA and provincial crop reports. Experts stressed that without policy measures to improve farmer profitability and cotton quality, acreage may shrink in the next season.