Cotton arrivals in Pakistan fall by 49% amid slow start to new season

Cotton arrivals began in July 2024, as they did last year. The flow of arrivals was quite slow during the initial weeks of the current season. Cotton arrivals were noted at 442,041 bales up to July 15 this year, compared to 858,007 bales in the same period last year.

Cotton influx typically begins in August each year. However, in the last two seasons, it started in July due to early sowing and favourable weather conditions, which positively impacted the crop. This contrasts starkly with the arrival and total production in the marketing season 2022-23, when heavy rains and floods severely affected cotton production in the main cotton-producing states.

A provincial breakdown of the data showed that Sindh province recorded cotton arrivals of 682,292 bales from July 2024, to August 15, 2024, which was 53.85 per cent lower than the arrival of 1.478 million bales recorded up to August 15, 2023. Meanwhile, Punjab witnessed the arrival of 392,736 bales, compared to 636,684 bales as of 15 August 2023.

The country reported a cotton arrival of 8.396 million bales during the marketing year 2023-24, which was 70.94 per cent higher than the aggregate arrival of 4.912 million bales in 2022-23, as documented in the final arrival data of the PCGA.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)