PAKISTAN: Cotton importers strike deals with other sources

As a result of imports of 0.2 million bales of cotton from Western Africa, Central Asian States and USA would cost the country nearly 70 million dollars, Naseem Usman said. It is not surprising because it was expected after the Indian ban on exports of cotton, he said.

"We are still facing shortage of about 1.5 million bales of cotton to meet the export commitments, he added. Other brokers said that exporters are facing difficulty in meeting their commitments owing to shortage and high yarn prices in domestic market. To tackle the present crisis, the downstream textile industry has set up a body to facilitate exporters in procuring fabrics from different countries at competitive prices, they said.

They also said that, India despite having surplus cotton has imposed ban on its exports in national interest. Some weeks ago here the government ignored demands of the value-added textile industry. The Pak government must provide basic facilities to the textile industry, because this is the only sector, which is earning major share of foreign exchange, they added.