The gloomy world economic scenario particularly eurozone economies have depressed sentiment and as a result of this prices of raw cotton in domestic and world markets have come under pressure, analysts said.

KARACHI: Higher phutti (seed cotton) arrivals during the first month of new crop season have dispelled the fear that cotton crop will be much short owing to damage caused by floods in Sindh.

According to official figures released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) the phutti arrivals in September stood at 2.798 million bales, which was 0.1 million bales higher over the corresponding period last year.

It is encouraging that short arrivals from Sindh due to devastation caused by floods was compensated by higher harvest in the Punjab during the month.

The cotton and other crops in Sindh are still inundated and private estimates put cotton crop losses around 2 to 2.2 million bales.

The government estimates cotton crop size at around 15 million bales for this season however after damage to Sindh crop may the production may total around 10.25 to 10.30 million bales.

The production figures released by PCGA showed that the Punjab produced around 1.887 million bales during September registering a 61 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year. However, cotton harvesting in Sindh was short by 36 per cent at 0.911 million bales.

The spinning mills purchased around 2.118 million bales during the month under review whereas exporters lifted around 74,050 bales.

Ginners normally hold small stocks of unsold cotton, but presently they have a huge inventory of around 606,084 bales.

The gloomy world economic scenario particularly eurozone economies have depressed sentiment and as a result of this prices of raw cotton in domestic and world markets have come under pressure, analysts said.

Lesser buying from foreign consumers has slowed down import orders of textile goods and many industrial units are faced with financial squeeze, they added.

As a result of this international cotton prices were now hovering below a dollar per lb and in domestic market around Rs5,300 per maund from Rs6,500.