• Industry says 500 ginning factories, over 150 textile mills closed
• Ginners allege imported inputs meant for re-export are being sold locally
LAHORE: Cotton arrivals at ginning factories rose 7.53 per cent year-on-year to 4.08 million bales by Oct 15, but the domestic cotton and textile industries are facing a deepening crisis, with around 500 ginning factories, over 150 textile mills and nearly half of the country’s power looms reportedly lying idle.
Industry representatives have attributed the crisis to rising production costs and alleged misuse of the Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS), under which imported yarn and fabric are reportedly being sold in the domestic market instead of being re-exported.
According to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), arrivals reached 4,081,265 bales by Oct 15, up 285,628 bales from 3,795,637 bales a year earlier.
Punjab recorded arrivals of 1.64m bales, up 7.79pc, while Sindh’s arrivals increased 7.35pc to 2.44m bales. Bahawalnagar led Punjab with 418,750 bales, followed by Bahawalpur with 294,606, Dera Ghazi Khan 236,514, Rahim Yar Khan 169,949 and Layyah 122,327.
In Sindh, Sanghar topped the list with 1.14m bales, followed by Sukkur with 264,500 bales, Naushehro Feroze 223,200 and Khairpur 213,900.
A total of 471 ginning factories were operational nationwide. Textile mills had purchased around 3.45m bales and exporters 97,000 bales, leaving 531,530 bales unsold. Arrivals during the preceding fortnight totalled 872,863 bales.
However, Cotton Ginners Forum Chairman Ihsanul Haq warned that adverse weather could leave national production below initial estimates.
He also pointed to a discrepancy between PCGA figures and those of the Punjab Crop Reporting Service, which put provincial production at 2.983m bales against the PCGA’s 1.638m bales in arrivals by Oct 15.
Mr Haq said the alleged misuse of the EFS, coupled with rising production costs, had undermined the domestic industry. He cited estimates that 40m to 50m metres of fabric had been imported from China alone under the scheme, while exports had shown little corresponding growth.
Figures released by the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) showed man-made yarn imports rising from 3,056 tonnes in the first quarter of 2025-26 to 12,773 tonnes in the corresponding quarter of 2026-27. Man-made fabric imports increased from 660 tonnes to 8,628 tonnes over the same period.
Mr Haq alleged that some imports intended for re-export were instead being sold locally, where an 18pc sales tax applied, putting domestic manufacturers at a disadvantage.
Aptma has welcomed Customs action against alleged misuse of the scheme and called for restrictions on imports of man-made yarn and fabric under the EFS. It said around 500 ginning factories and more than 150 textile mills had closed, while nearly half of the country’s power looms were inactive.
Sajid Mahmood, head of the Transfer of Technology Department at the Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI), Multan, said cotton revival required policies focused not only on production but also on farmers’ profitability, production costs, market access and lint quality.
If cotton continued to offer lower returns than competing crops, farmers could reduce acreage in the next season, he warned.
With 15 to 20 days of picking remaining, he urged farmers to follow agricultural experts’ advice to protect yields and quality. The CCRI has recommended a spray containing 2kg of urea per 100 litres of water in fields with eight to 10 green bolls per plant to encourage boll opening.
Farmers should also monitor pink bollworm infestation, pick mature bolls promptly and harvest in dry weather to prevent contamination.
Mr Mahmood said the success of cotton revival should be measured by farmers’ net income per acre, not merely the volume of arrivals at ginning factories.
Karachi Cotton Brokers Forum leader Naseem Usman urged the government not only to announce a cotton support price but also to devise a procurement mechanism in case market prices fell below the support level.
He hoped that the undocumented cotton business would see a decline this year due to strict government measures and might lead to some increase in the overall cotton production.
Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2026