Increasing cotton consumption leads to record high imports
22 Mar '08
1 min read
Shortage of crop led to a massive importation of cotton from across the world. Textile mills in Pakistan recently placed orders for 3.2 million bales of cotton worth Rs45 billion for February 2008.
Statistics provided by industrial sources show that in the period ranging from August 2007 to February 2008, mills in Pakistan imported about 5,19,053 metric tons of cotton.
Experts believe that the volume accounts for the highest ever imports made in the history of Pakistan during this specific period.
The bulky imports, most of which have come from India, have also affected cotton trading at the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA).
Moreover, industrial sources are expecting additional imports of 5,00,000 to 6,00,000 bales amounting to Rs55 billion making the total imports reach around 3.8 to 4 million bales.
Some of the mills have already signed a contract with Indian suppliers for 2 million cotton bales worth Rs3 billion.
However, imports have also been made from countries like USA, Brazil, Egypt, Turkmenistan, Sudan, CIS, Nigeria, Cameroon and Turkey.
Expansion in technology led to increased consumption by textile mills which absorbed some 14.5 million bales of cotton in 2007.
Unfortunately this year again, Pakistan is anticipated to produce a total of only 11.2 million bales.