All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) has estimated $1.5 billion production losses of cotton crop due to rains and floods in the country.

Accordingly, in order to avoid cotton shortage in the country, Aptma has decided to explore the international market to ensure procurement of quality cotton at reasonable rates. 

A delegation led by Patron-in-Chief Dr Gohar Ejaz and senior members Fawad Mukhtar and Anwar Ghani have left for Tanzania, for sourcing cotton for Pakistan to fulfil future requirements of cotton in the wake of the destruction caused by the flood in the cotton-growing areas. 

Pakistan has been hit by the worst floods in its history, affecting 33 million people and an estimated cost of more than $10 billion of infrastructural damage. The floods have also affected the standing cotton crop severely across the country.

According to Aptma, the current estimates of cotton losses are 3.5 million bales which are 36 percent of the crop that was expected this year and the loss is valued at $1.5 billion.

Pakistan has to arrange this Cotton at the lowest cost possible on an emergency basis for the sector to continue meeting the export orders. Any delay or non-delivery of export orders will further worsen our ‘Balance of Payments’ which is already under extreme pressure and the industry will lose hard-earned international clients. 

As per Aptma estimates, the major cotton production losses occurred in Sindh and Punjab as these are major shares in overall production.

Sindh has suffered the most damages as overall some 2 million bales loss has been estimated in Sindh province. The cotton crop estimate, before the rain and flood, was 3.22 million bales, while now Sindh is likely to produce hardly 1.13 million cotton bales as its 65 percent, out of 1.272 million acres, of cotton cultivation have been affected due to rains and floods.

Cotton was cultivated at 3.66 million acres in Punjab with an expected crop of 5.38 million bales. After the flood and rains, Punjab has faced 0.81 million bales loss and now it is likely to produce 4.57 million bales during this season. Cotton crop loss in Balochistan is estimated at 340,000 bales.

Industry has appreciated the step taken by Aptma for timely procurement of cotton for the country’s largest export-oriented textile sector. Pakistan’s textile sector exports posted 26 percent growth and rose to $19.3 billion at the end of the last fiscal year.

Source - https://www.brecorder.com