By Razi Syed
KARACHI: The country received 12.6 million bales till the fortnight that ended on February 15, 2013, which is 800,000 cotton bales or 6.77 percent more as compared with 11.8 million bales during the same period in 2012, a spokesman of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) said on Monday.
Till February 15, 2013 textile sector bought around 10.18 million bales, private sector exporters purchased around 276,150 bales and total stocks were slightly more than 1.86 million bales.
The previous year stocks during this period were almost 1.84 million bales and the arrival of cottonseed during this fortnight remained at around 255,100 bales.
Experts at Sindh Agriculture Forum said during crop season 2012-13, the country would likely to produce around 15.2 million bales. The global cotton mill consumption was also projected to increase by 4.5 percent to 24.8 million tonnes in 2012-13.
The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) had set target at 14.50 million bales for the cotton 2012-13 season.
Better yield is attributed to the latest well-researched BT cottonseed, proper crop-related information to growers for usage of fertilizer and appropriate water availability in major crop-growing areas in Punjab and Sindh.
The agriculture departments in Sindh and Punjab enhanced monitoring the crop diseases timely and provided basic remedies for the cotton leaf curl virus and bollworm to farmers and growers, he added.
The country is in a position to export more than 2 million bales worth $360 million, as the domestic prices of lint are comparatively lower than the international price, he maintained.
According to International Cotton Advisory Committee, world production will exceed consumption again in 2012-13, leading to rising stocks and global cotton stocks could expand by 11 percent to 14.5 million tonnes in 2012-13.
Cotton prices found support when the most recent US government export data showed a significant uptick in sales in the week ended Feb 7 from the previous week and spoke to continued high levels of demand.
The growers demanded the restart cottonseed institute at Sakrand in Sindh to fulfil seed requirements of growers as the only seed institute in Khanewal was unable to cover even PunjabΆs requirement. Pakistan would likely produce more than 15.5 million bales, which is up by 3.0 percent as compared to the previous season and cotton output of US would stand around 17.2 million bales, which is up by 10 percent from the previous year.
Only Pakistan and US are among the leading cotton producing nations, witnessing increase while other leading cotton producing countries are witnessing decline in production in fiscal year 2012-13.
According to US Department of Agriculture, the world 2012-13 lint production is forecast to decline by 8.0 percent from the previous year to 114 million bales.
India is forecast to consume 21.0 million bales in fiscal year 2012-13, up 8.0 percent from a year ago. If realised, this will be its second highest mill use on record.
In the US, mill use is forecast at 3.5 million bales, an increase of 3.0 percent from a year ago.
BrazilΆs mill use is forecast at nearly 4.3 million bales, up 6.0 percent from a year ago.
US cotton rose on Friday as key technical support levels and this weekΆs strong US export data buoyed prices.
Comparison :
Feb 15, 2013 Feb 15, 2012 Rise
12.6m bales 11.8m bales 800,000 bales
