A lower-than-expected cotton harvest has left Pakistan with no choice but to import over 5 million bales to meet local demand and fulfill demands for exports, marking one of the highest-ever import bills in the country’s history.
Total cotton output by Jan. 15 stood at 5.489 billion bales compared to 8.258 million bales at the same point last year. Thus far, cotton production has missed its target output three times. Initially, the target for the year was set at 10.8 million bales, which was revised down to 8.5 million bales and then again to 6.5 million bales.
In Sindh, per available data, production declined from 5.489 million bales last year to just 2.8 million bales this season. In Punjab, the crop size shrunk from 4.158 million bales last year to 2.686 million bales this season.
Of the available 5.489 million bales, textile companies have thus far bought up 4.9 million bales, a significant decline from last year’s purchases of 7.478 million bales as of January 2024. The reduced supply has forced export-oriented textile companies to import cotton bales to meet the requirements of their global clients.
The import commitments thus far stand at around 3.5 million bales apart from the roughly 1.5 million bales imported already. However, with supply issues persisting, experts estimate the country could need to import another 5.5 million bales to fulfill demand. If so, the total import bill could climb to $1.6 billion in fiscal year 2024-25, almost four times above last year’s imports of $447 million.
In the year ended June 30, 2023, the cotton import bill had reached nearly $1.64 billion. The country’s highest-ever import bill came in 2022, $2.86 billion, owed largely to high commodity prices, floods and increased demand.