KARACHI: Pakistan is likely to import around 7 million cotton bales this year owing to a decline of nearly half the annual target set by the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA), industry stakeholders said on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s cotton production stood at 5.3 million bales each weighing 170 kilograms as of Dec. 15, according to state-run Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) data. The FCA had set a target of 10.2 million bales in April.
Karachi Cotton Brokers Forum (KCBF) Chairman Naseem Usman Osawala sees the country’s cotton production declining by 46 percent this season, compared to the FCA target.
“The country is expected to produce about 5.5 million bales this year,” he told Arab News, adding Pakistan would have to import around 7 million bales to meet requirement of its textile industry which consumes about 12 million bales a year.
The country had sown cotton over 2.002 million hectares, which was down by 11 percent from the targeted 2.26 million hectares.
