Record cotton production lifts textiles

Spikes 80% to 3.93 million bales in first two months of current season

KARACHI:

Supported by favourable weather conditions, Pakistan’s cotton production spiked 80% to 3.93 million bales in the first two months of the current season, increasing the availability of the commodity to textile makers and cutting the nation’s import bill significantly during times when there is a foreign exchange reserves crisis in the country.

The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) reported on Monday that the commodity output had stood at 2.18 million bales this time last year.

While speaking to The Express Tribune, the former chairman of PCGA, Jassu Mal Leemani, said the favourable weather conditions supported this high production. “Otherwise, we (farmers) have done no wonders.”

“This time last year, the country was facing floods which damaged a total of three million bales,” he said. In 2022, widespread flooding in Pakistan affected or destroyed around 40% of the country’s cotton crop.

Chairman of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), Asif Inam, said, “Better cotton output has reduced the industry’s reliance on imported commodities this year compared to the previous year, saving precious foreign exchange reserves.”

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country imported 683,911 tonnes of cotton worth $1.68 billion in the previous fiscal year, which ended on June 30, 2023.

Leemani anticipated the country would produce 9-10 million bales this year compared to around five million last year.

Inam estimated the textile industry’s requirement for cotton at a minimum of around 14-15 million bales this year to meet export orders during the year.

“The requirement may spike to 18-20 million bales if the government succeeds in overcoming the electricity pricing crisis and takes other related reforms,” he said.

The government is taking all possible measures, and we hope it will find a solution to the power crisis and pave the way for industrial revival, said Inam.

The textile industry remains the single largest export earning sector of Pakistan, attracting almost 60% of the total such earnings in a year.

The high inflation environment worldwide, especially in Pakistan’s export markets, including the US and Europe, has impacted the country’s exports in recent times.

According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the fashion industry uses around two-thirds of cotton fibres produced worldwide, giving it immense influence over the livelihoods of the 350 million people who work in the cotton supply chain. Some 250 million people work in cotton processing, while 100 million are farmers who grow cotton. The vast majority of these farmers grow their crop on fewer than two hectares of land and are located in developing countries, including in 30 ranked by the United Nations as low in its development index measuring healthy lives, education and standard of living

APTMA office-bearers said the textile industry is operating at 50-70% capacity these days but hope that capacity utilisation will increase to 100% soon, considering the government’s efforts to fix the long-pending issues.

A leading cotton dealer, Naseem Usman, estimated Pakistan’s requirement for imported cotton stands at 3.5 million bales to 4 million bales this year.

He said the country is yet to receive 2.2-2.5 million bales soon against previous import orders. Besides, it may place an additional import order for 1-1.5 million bales for the current fiscal year 2023-24.

Experts say Pakistan has high potential to increase cotton production significantly. However, the non-availability of quality seeds remains a chronic issue, limiting the output to current levels.

The country saw a record high of 15-16 million bales about a decade ago.

The data suggests Pakistan has taken some early production in Sindh this year, as they used early production seeds in the fields. Stakeholders have said that there is a pest attack in some cotton production areas. However, the farmers are taking remedies to lower the scale of losses. They estimated pest-related losses to the tune of around half a million bales, which is usual.

They, however, hope the weather will remain supportive, as cotton remains a weather-sensitive crop, and variations in temperature and unwanted rain may damage a portion of the crop.

The sector’s sustainability issues stand to be exacerbated by increased risk to extreme heat, drought, floods and wildfires already being caused by climate change, Forum for the Future warned in a 2021 report. Besides cutting yields, it will also affect the wellbeing of those involved in the supply chain, it noted.

The cotton dealer said there remain some 614 ginning factors in operation at present compared to 570 this time last year.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM REUTERS

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2023.

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