Country received 5.28m cotton bales by Oct 18
23 October, 2012
KARACHI: The country received around 5.28 million cotton bales during fortnight ended on October 18, 2012, according to Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) on Monday.
During this period textile sector bought around 4.09 million bales, private sector exporters purchased around 99,648 bales and total last year stocks were at 1.09 million bales. The arrival of cottonseed during this period remained at around 65,435 bales.
Experts at Sindh Agriculture Forum said during crop season 2012-13, the country would likely to produce a bumper crop of around 15.5 million bales.
The global mill consumption 2012-13 is forecast to rise 4.5 percent from the previous year to nearly 24.8 million tonnes, as a result of lower cotton prices relative to polyester and a slight improvement in global economic activity.
During this period the flow remained at around 1.83 million bales as compared to 1.91 million bales.
The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) had set target at 14.50 million bales for the 2012-13 crop season.
Better yield is attributed to the latest well-researched BT cottonseed, proper crop-related information to growers for usage of fertilizer and appropriate water availability in major crop-growing areas in Punjab and Sindh.
The agriculture departments in Sindh and Punjab also enhanced monitoring the crop diseases timely and provided basic remedies for the cotton leaf curl virus and bollworm to farmers and growers, he added.
The country is in a position to export more than 2 million bales worth $320 million, as the domestic prices of lint are comparatively lower than the international price, he maintained.
He said the government should take interest to restart seed institute at Sakrand in Sindh to fulfil seed requirements of growers as the only seed institute in Khanewal was unable to cover even Punjab's requirement.
The country received around 5.22 million cotton bales by mid-October 2012, during half way crop season.
At the same time, current and projected lower cotton prices are likely to improve cotton's share of global fibre demand.
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