Around 10.768 million bales of cotton had reached Pakistani markets by last week of December 2012, which is, however, lower than arrivals of 11.036 million bales recorded by same time in 2011.
Of the total 10.768 million bales received till December-end, Punjab’s contribution remained same as its last year’s contribution, Dr. Khalid Abdullah, Cotton Development Commissioner, Ministry of Textile Industry, told APP.
However, a rise has been noted in arrival from Sindh region, which contributed around 3.123 million bales, as compared to previous season’s 2.279 million bales, Dr. Abdullah said.
He said the crop outlook remains positive in spite of cotton fields across Punjab and Sindh being hit by torrential rains and flash floods, which devastated standing crop over a large area.
Production for the current 2012-13 season is expected to reach around 13 million bales, slightly below the Government set target of 13.3 million bales, he added.
Dr. Abdullah further informed that the country’s cotton exports for the first five months of the current Pakistani fiscal which began on July 1, 2012, reduced to 239,024 bales from 352,353 bales exported during the same period of previous fiscal. However, cotton imports increased substantially to 539,212 bales as against July-November 2011’s imports of 313,734 bales.
