Raza Khan

The Ministry of Commerce says there would be no shortage of cotton in Pakistan for the textile industry during the current fiscal year.

“Around 5 million bales of cotton will have to be imported to fulfil the requirements of the local textile industry,” Mudassar Raza Siddqui, Director General (Textile) at the Ministry of Commerce, told WealthPK.

Mudassar informed that the total demand of the textile industry in Pakistan for cotton is estimated at around 13 million bales during 2022-23. He added that the import of 5 million bales of cotton or even more is not a big deal.

“If Pakistan manages to produce 8 million bales of cotton this year, still it awill be a good performance,” the official said.

He added that exports and imports of cotton were underway as per market mechanism. He said that prices of cotton in the US and Brazil are not high these days, and there should be no problem for importers. He added that the government was not charging any import duty on cotton as it was declared as raw material for the export industry. He said that the apparent impacts of the global recession in Europe and the US have slowed down the growth in textile exports.

“The European Union countries and the US are major export destinations for Pakistan’s textile products. Any kind of financial crunch in those countries will impact our exports,” Mudassar said.

The official said that the government would provide every assistance to the textile sector for importing cotton.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan spent $1.828 billion to import 776,394 metric tons (MT) raw cotton in the last fiscal year (20221-22).

According to All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), the current estimates of cotton losses due to flood are 3.5 million bales which is 36% of the crop that was expected this year, and the loss is estimated at $1.5 billion.

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. Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) and Pakistan Textile Council (PTC) have demanded the government allow the import of raw cotton from India.

“Importing cotton from India will be far cheaper and it will take only a few days to reach Pakistan,” the PTEA Chairman Sohail Pasha said in a statement.

He said that India is the second largest cotton producer after the US and the best possible option for Pakistan to import raw cotton in the current situation. The PTEA chairman urged the government to review its policies in the wake of current situation, and allow import of Indian cotton for the export-oriented textile industry under the Duty and Tax Remission for Export (DTRE) Scheme. Pakistan Textile Council (PTC) has also asked the government to allow import of cotton from India to meet the demand of export-oriented industries.

“The country’s textile industry is facing a shortage of raw material as flash floods have badly affected cotton production,” the PTC said in a statement.

According to the PTC, the country will face huge losses in terms of cut in textile exports if timely decision for import of cotton was not taken. Pakistan’s textiles exports were registered at $19.329 billion in the last fiscal year against $15.4 billion in the preceding year, with an increase of 25.53%. According to Textiles and Apparel Policy 2020-25, textile exports target for the current year has been set at $25 billion.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk