Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Lahore—Pakistan Cotton Ginning Association (PCGA) has calculated 11.71 percent reduction in arrival of cotton up to March 15, 2013. Pakistan Cotton Ginning Association (PCGA) has issued fortnightly statistics for total domestic cotton production in Pakistan. As per its fortnightly statistics, the total domestic arrival of seed cotton (phutti) was calculated at 12,845,070 bales, which is 1,703,775 bales or 11.71 percent less than the previous year.
During the period, almost 9,445,703 bales equivalent seed cotton was received in ginning factories of Punjab, which was 2,434,274 bales or 20.50 percent less than the previous year. On the other hand, 3,399,367 bales equivalent seed cotton was received in Sindh's ginning factories, which is 730,499 bales or 27.33 percent more than the previous year.
The Pakistan Cotton Ginning Association report says that upto March 15, 2013, total cotton exports stood at 328,931 bales as compared to 1.0 million bales during the corresponding period of last year. Textile mills, so far, have purchased 11,618,033 bales from ginning factories and 898,106 bales are still lying with the ginning factories.Commenting on the latest figures, Ihsan-ul-Haq, ex-executive member of Pakistan Cotton Ginning Association, said that total domestic cotton production is assessed as 13 million bales, whereas we need 16 million bales to meet industrial and other requirements.
He further added that due to rains in the early cotton season of 2012, the germination capacity has fallen to 55-60 percent, whereas standards require 75 percent germination for certified seed, resulting in shortage of certified seed in Sindh and Punjab. Ihsan-ul-Haq further said that the Federal Board of Revenue has decided to defer the sales tax on sale of cotton lint and the present policy of zero sale tax will prevail. The PCGA has welcomed the decision.
(Source: Pakistan Observer)