Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) Pakistan has estimated a decline in cotton production by over 40 percent in the current year.
The committee was informed that cotton production for 2022-23 is estimated at 6.3 million bales from an area of 2.1 million hectares showing a decrease of 43.08 percent over the previous year.
Pakistan has been hit by the worst flood in its history, affecting 33 million people and inflicting an estimated loss of more than $30 billion in infrastructural damages. Floods have destroyed the cotton crop in a fairly large area.
It may be noted that a delegation of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has already visited Tanzania for importing cotton to meet the industry needs. Meanwhile, the federal government has also announced a special energy tariff for the industry as a bailout package.
The immediate past Chairman of the Association believes that any delay or non-delivery of export orders would further worsen the balance of payments, which was already under extreme pressure. At the same time, the industry would lose hard-earned international clients.
It is worth mentioning that the International Cotton Association (ICA) also made a visit to APTMA last month and extended its commitment to deliver a series of Trade Matters training courses in important buying regions. The training is likely to take place in various locations throughout Pakistan from October 17-22 and will cover important aspects of international trade, including contract making, ICA bylaws & rules, quality, classing & testing, claims and resolution, ICA arbitration, ICA lists of unfulfilled awards and ICA membership.
