MULTAN – Seed cotton (Phutti) equivalent to 10.777 million bales have reached ginneries across Pakistan till May 1, 2019, registering a shortfall by 6.94 per cent compared to corresponding period of last year.
Out of total arrivals, over 10.777 million bales have undergone the ginning process, says a fortnightly report of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) issued here Friday.
Arrivals in Punjab were recorded at over 6.628 million bales showing a shortfall by 9.55 per cent and over 4 million bales in Sindh registering 2.45 per cent shortfall compared to corresponding period of last year.
Total sold out bales were recorded at over 10.25 million bales including over 10 million bales bought by textile mills and another 103,540 bales purchased by exporters.
Exactly 522,626 bales were still lying with the ginneries as unsold stock. Sanghar district of Sindh continued to remain on top with cotton arrival figures of over 1.28 million bales while Rahimyar Khan district of Punjab secured second berth with arrival figure of 1.19 million bales and Bahawalnagar stood third with just over a million bales.
The statistics show the shortfall was witnessed in 25 cotton districts out of total 32 including 18 out of total 21 in Punjab and seven out of total eleven cotton districts in Sindh.
Dera Ghazi Khan and Rahimyar Khan districts of Punjab and Nawabshah, Khairpur, Ghotki, and Sukkur districts of Sindh besides Balochistan witnessed surge in cotton arrivals, says the report. The report does not include cotton figures from districts of Kasur, and Sargodha. Only three ginning factories were now operational in the country including two in Punjab and one in Sindh.