Pakistan would need imports of additional 3.5 million bales cotton
03 Sep 2010
According to the chairman of Cotton Brokers Forum Naseem Usman, Pakistan would need to import 3.5 million additional bales worth Rs100 billion to meet the demand of local spinning and weaving sector. He was speaking to a news agency.
Usman said that more than 2 million bales had been damaged in the recent floods and added that Pakistan would harvest 11.8 million bales of cotton this season while the local estimated consumption was at 15.5 million bales, which meant that the country would require to import 3.5 to 3.7 million bales this season.
He said most of this cotton would be sourced from India which holds 8 million bales in surplus this season.
He added that although there was no shortage of cotton in the world this year thus far, prices of the commodity were high in the international market.
He said there was a fear of international cotton prices rising on demand from Pakistan.
He said that currently, price of Indian cotton was hovering around 96 cents per pound, but the price would escalate on demand surge.