Cotton prices are rising—but Pakistan’s textile industry is sinking under structural pressures, with APTMA warning that 150 mills have shut down in two years.
Cotton prices gained Rs 200 per maund this week, fuelled by renewed mill interest in high-quality fibre. Premium cotton traded at Rs 15,500–15,800 per maund in Punjab and Sindh, and up to Rs 16,100 in Balochistan, while Phutti traded between Rs 6,000 and Rs 9,200 per 40kg. The Karachi Cotton Association raised the spot rate to Rs 15,200.
But behind the price uptick lies an alarming industry collapse. APTMA Patron-in-Chief Gohar Ejaz revealed that 150 textile mills have shut down due to an acute decline in yarn and fabric exports, driven by high interest rates, electricity cost, and heavy taxation—making Pakistani products uncompetitive against regional peers. Yarn and fabric exports, he said, are “no longer viable.”
Cotton output is also shrinking, projected at only 5.5 million bales this year, as farmers shift to more profitable crops. A new sugar mill in Upper Sindh is expected to push further conversion from cotton to sugarcane. Mills are increasingly relying on cheaper Brazilian cotton, while US exporters are pressuring Pakistan to drop the fumigation requirement—an exemption experts warn could reintroduce pests like pink bollworm.
Punjab’s 2026–27 Cotton Strategy, developed at MNS University Multan, aims to reverse the decline by targeting 40 maunds/acre in early sowing and launching cluster-based farming with APTMA, improved seed access, and rigorous zoning.
Meanwhile, APTMA has rejected the government’s incremental electricity tariff package as “unacceptable,” and is contesting omissions in Cabinet decisions as the Ministry of Commerce finalizes the new Textile & Apparel Policy (2025–30), targeting USD 29.38 billion in exports by 2030.
