Cotton business remains dull in Pakistan with further drop in prices and not much stocks of new crop cotton (2015-16) remain unsold with ginners. This week cotton market witnessed a decrease in the value of seed cotton prices by about Rs 100 per 40 kgs, while lint prices dropped by Rs 100 to Rs 150 per maund (37.32 kgs).

In Sindh, seedcotton (kapas / phutti) prices reportedly ranged from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,300 per 40 kgs, as per quality, while the seedcotton prices in Punjab ranged from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,350 per 40 kgs while the prices remained under pressure. Lint prices on Thursday ranged from Rs 4,450 to Rs 4,600 per maund (37.32 kgs) in Sindh, while in the Punjab it was reported to have ranged from Rs 4,750 to Rs 4,850 per maund in a slack market.

In ready cotton sales in Sindh on Thursday 800 bales from Hyderabad and 1,000 bales from Sanghar sold at Rs 4,450 / Rs 4,500 per maund (37.32 kgs), 1,200 bales from Sahahdadpur sold at Rs 4,475 / Rs 4,550 per maund, while 1,200 bales from Tando Adam sold at Rs 4,500 / Rs 4,550 per maund. In the Punjab, 200 bales from Vihari sold at Rs 4,750 per maund, 400 bales from Chichawatni sold at Rs 4,800 / Rs 4,850 per maund, while 400 bales from Burewala sold at Rs 4,850 per maund.

China remains the global leader in raw cotton and textile output and also remains a prime buyer of yarns and several semi-processed textile products. Lack of buying by China is also pressurising the production and prices of several Pakistani products which it had been exporting to China regularly. Generally speaking, the traders are estimating the present cotton crop (August 2015 / July 2016) to be around 15 million bales (155 kgs).

Larger sowing has increased the potential of larger output and weather damage in some areas will be compensated by better production in other areas. Some quality damage has been reported in certain areas but it is being projected in some trading circles that lint quality may improve when the rains start subsiding. Till now seedcotton equivalent to nearly 20,000 bales of new crop is arriving daily into the ginning factories. These arrivals may soon increase considerably.

In Pakistan, textile industry is going through a very dull and difficult period because of new taxation and high cost of manufacturing compared to its regional textile producers, the domestic textile industry is struggling to keep its production operative. The textile ministry and the textile leaders have met on a number of occasions. Now the government has promised to allay several of the difficulties being faced by the domestic textile industry by next month.