Pakistan could not achieve its export revenue target due to declining cotton price in the international market. Sources told Business Recorder on Tuesday that cotton exports in terms of quantity doubled in the current fiscal year as compared to last year from 0.534 million bales to 1.171 million bales.
However due to decline in cotton price, export earnings remained $320 million this year against $231 million earned last year. The international market price of cotton was Rs 11,000 per maund last year while the current year”s price is Rs 6,000. “Had the commodity price remained unchanged, the country could have earned $462 million this year, but due to a decline in the cotton price, Pakistan was unable to achieve the estimated export revenue target,” sources said.
They said that continued declining trend in the international cotton market had kept the local market under stress. Demand of yarn in the international market is down, which resulted in cotton prices decline globally and locally, they added.
Due to recession in the international market, the country”s overall textile exports registered a decline of $1.1 billion ie 9 percent as compared to the same period of last year. Source said that textile exports reached $9 billion in the current fiscal year as compared to $10.1 billion during the same period last year adding that due to recession and bumper cotton crop, cotton prices remained low, which resulted in huge loss to the textile sector.
Pakistan Agri Forum Chairman Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal said that out of the country”s total export earnings of $25 billion, $16 billion were from cotton sector. “The production cost of cotton in Pakistan is 300 percent higher then in India and China due to which cotton exports may decline by $3 million if the government did not pay special attention to this sector,” he said.
Source: http://www.brecorder.com/cotton-a-textiles/185/1194558/
