Cotton price surges to historic Rs14,300 per 40 kilogram

KARACHI: Cotton prices have surged to a historic high of Rs14,300 per 40-kg due to rupee depreciation against the dollar and low local production, according to ginners.
Pakistan Cotton Ginners Forum Chairman Ihsan-ul-Haq said that cotton price has reached a level of Rs14,100 per 40-kg in Sindh while it is available at Rs14,300 per 40-kg in Punjab due to delayed imports of cotton bales and dollar appreciation against the local currency in recent days.
He said that locally produced cotton is being consumed with heavy orders while the imported orders are being delayed. However, the chairman hoped that since the weather conditions fared better in the favour of cotton crop, it is likely the country will produce 10 million bales.
However, according to other experts, 8.5 million bales of cotton are expected to be produced despite the fact that this year local production of cotton is better. It is expected that this year the demand of cotton will be 17 million bales due to installation of new machinery.
As per cotton importers, every day new import agreements are being signed and up till now agreements for import of 0.5 to 0.6 million bales have already been signed.
Chairman Karachi Cotton Brokers Forum Naseem Usman said that overall a bullish trend prevails in the international cotton markets. He said that production of cotton crop is expected to improve globally in 2021-22.
A day earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that providing assistance to farmers is among the foremost priorities of the government as agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy.
Presiding over a meeting to review the performance of Kisan Card in Lahore, the prime minister said the government is reforming the agriculture sector through its agricultural transformation plan and it is producing positive results.
The meeting was informed that 375,000 Kissan Cards have been issued in a short period of time and the number is increasing rapidly. Due to the Kissan Card, the farmers have so far made 595,000 transactions in terms of subsidy, taking the benefit of around Rs.600 million and it has helped end corruption through the token system. – TLTP