Pakistan’s Cotton Output Down 33% From Target In 2023-24
8.02 million bales of cotton had been ginned across Pakistan by December 15, as against 4.90 million bales of 170 kg each in the same period in the previous season.
It may be recalled that Pakistan’s cotton crop was destroyed by the massive floods that the country faced last year, due to which cotton production sank drastically in the 2022-23 season.
Experts aver that cotton arrivals are petering out and cotton production may reach between 8.3 and 8.4 million tons compared to the 12 million bales, down 33 percent from the country’s target.
During this period, textile mills have purchased over 7.866 million bales, while cotton exporters bought 290,000 bales, with 6.5 million bales still lying with ginners.
Data released by the Pakistan Ginners Association (PGA) informed that 3.957 million cotton lint bales arrived at ginning factories in Punjab, while 4.67 million bales were brought in to Sindh.
The total cotton lint production in Pakistan amounted to 5.64 million bales in 2020-21, 7.44 million bales in 2021-22 and 4.912 million bales in 2022-23, which is the lowest in Pakistan’s history.
The highest cotton output was recorded in the 2015-16 season at 14.9 million bales and never dropped below the 10 million mark before the 2019-20 cotton season.
