Pakistan’s Textile Ministry asks Govt to lift ban on import of cotton from India

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

Pakistan's textile ministry headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan has recommended the lifting of a ban on the import of cotton from India to bridge the raw material shortfall the country's textile sector was facing, according to a media report on Tuesday.


Pakistan’s textile ministry headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan has recommended the lifting of a ban on the import of cotton from India to bridge the raw material shortfall the country’s textile sector was facing, according to a media report on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Textile Industry has sought permission from the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet to lift the ban on import of cotton and cotton yarn from India, the Dawn News reported, quoting official sources. ”We already submitted the summary to the ECC more than a week ago to lift the ban,” an official said, adding the decision of the coordination committee will then be placed before the federal Cabinet for formal approval




Prime Minister Khan, as in-charge of the Commerce and Textile Ministry, has already approved the summary to be placed before the ECC, the report said.

The low yield of cotton bales in Pakistan has created problems, paving the way for import from India. The government’s decision to consider lifting the ban from India came as a big relief for the value-added textile sector, which seeks access to cheap raw materials. Currently, cotton and yarn imports are allowed from all countries except India.

Pakistan suspended trade ties with India after New Delhi revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcating it into two Union territories in August, 2019.

In May 2020, Pakistan lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material from India to ensure there is no shortage of essential drugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first step of reversing the complete suspension of trade with India.

Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood tweeted, ”A meeting was held with the Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI escalating prices of cotton yarn were discussed. He was sympathetic towards the value-added sectors & advised that in order to ease the pressure on yarn and keep momentum of value added exports.” ”All steps be taken through cross-border imports of cotton yarn including by land. A summary will be presented at the next ECC to ensure availability of cotton and yarn in the coming months,” the commerce adviser said in another tweet.

The textile sector has hailed the government’s move. Pakistan Textile Exporters Association Chairman Khurram Mukhtar in a tweet said that import of raw cotton, yarn and grey fabric from India will bridge the gap in demand and supply. It will enable Pakistani exporters to continue growth momentum, he said.

According to reports, against the annual estimated consumption of minimum 12 million bales, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research expects only 7.7 million bales production this year. However, cotton ginners have given the lowest production estimates of only 5.5 million bales for this year.

There is a minimum shortfall of six million bales and Pakistan has so far imported roughly 688,305 metric tonnes of cotton and yarn, costing USD 1.1 billion, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. There is still a gap of about 3.5 million bales that needs to be filled through imports.

Due to shortage of cotton and yarn, the users were compelled to import them from the United States, Brazil and Uzbekistan.



Imports from India would be far cheaper and would reach Pakistan within three to four days. Importing yarn from other countries was not only expensive but would also take one to two months to reach Pakistan.

https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/pakistans-textile-ministry-asks-govt-to-lift-ban-on-import-of-cotton-from-india/2223026/

https://twitter.com/x/status/1375116780260229123

https://twitter.com/x/status/1376506461182955526

 

[lightoftruth]

We should consider increasing price of cotton.

 

[Skull and Bones]

We should consider increasing price of cotton.

Never join/do business.

 

[PradoTLC]

Pakistan's textile ministry headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan has recommended the lifting of a ban on the import of cotton from India to bridge the raw material shortfall the country's textile sector was facing, according to a media report on Tuesday.


Pakistan’s textile ministry headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan has recommended the lifting of a ban on the import of cotton from India to bridge the raw material shortfall the country’s textile sector was facing, according to a media report on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Textile Industry has sought permission from the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet to lift the ban on import of cotton and cotton yarn from India, the Dawn News reported, quoting official sources. ”We already submitted the summary to the ECC more than a week ago to lift the ban,” an official said, adding the decision of the coordination committee will then be placed before the federal Cabinet for formal approval




Prime Minister Khan, as in-charge of the Commerce and Textile Ministry, has already approved the summary to be placed before the ECC, the report said.

The low yield of cotton bales in Pakistan has created problems, paving the way for import from India. The government’s decision to consider lifting the ban from India came as a big relief for the value-added textile sector, which seeks access to cheap raw materials. Currently, cotton and yarn imports are allowed from all countries except India.

Pakistan suspended trade ties with India after New Delhi revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcating it into two Union territories in August, 2019.

In May 2020, Pakistan lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material from India to ensure there is no shortage of essential drugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first step of reversing the complete suspension of trade with India.

Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood tweeted, ”A meeting was held with the Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI escalating prices of cotton yarn were discussed. He was sympathetic towards the value-added sectors & advised that in order to ease the pressure on yarn and keep momentum of value added exports.” ”All steps be taken through cross-border imports of cotton yarn including by land. A summary will be presented at the next ECC to ensure availability of cotton and yarn in the coming months,” the commerce adviser said in another tweet.

The textile sector has hailed the government’s move. Pakistan Textile Exporters Association Chairman Khurram Mukhtar in a tweet said that import of raw cotton, yarn and grey fabric from India will bridge the gap in demand and supply. It will enable Pakistani exporters to continue growth momentum, he said.

According to reports, against the annual estimated consumption of minimum 12 million bales, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research expects only 7.7 million bales production this year. However, cotton ginners have given the lowest production estimates of only 5.5 million bales for this year.

There is a minimum shortfall of six million bales and Pakistan has so far imported roughly 688,305 metric tonnes of cotton and yarn, costing USD 1.1 billion, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. There is still a gap of about 3.5 million bales that needs to be filled through imports.

Due to shortage of cotton and yarn, the users were compelled to import them from the United States, Brazil and Uzbekistan.



Imports from India would be far cheaper and would reach Pakistan within three to four days. Importing yarn from other countries was not only expensive but would also take one to two months to reach Pakistan.

https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/pakistans-textile-ministry-asks-govt-to-lift-ban-on-import-of-cotton-from-india/2223026/

https://twitter.com/x/status/1375116780260229123

https://twitter.com/x/status/1376506461182955526

import from Egypt

 

[Menace2Society]

 

[H!TchHiker]

Another tactic to start doing trade with India and normalize everything while leave kashmir issue at corner ...as nothing had happened...

 

[lightoftruth]

Never join/do business.

I own one and work in second.

 

[HAIDER]

Because Pakistan textile industry is booming and high in demand.

 

[AsifIjaz]

A very bad move. Modi needs some war mongering for local politics.
A few months or a yr of peace building measures will eventually lead to same war mongering near next elections.

 

[muhammadhafeezmalik]

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday allowed the private sector to import 0.5 million tonnes of white sugar from India, Finance Minister Hammad Azhar said.


The finance minister added that the country will also import cotton from India starting from end-June this year.


Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Azhar said that the ECC also decided to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel citing lower rates in the international market. The price of petrol was reduced by Rs1 per litre while the price of diesel was reduced by Rs3 per litre, he shared.


Another decision taken by the ECC during its meeting was to fix the minimum support price for wheat at Rs1,800 per 40 kg which Azhar termed as a "relief for our farmer brothers".


The minister said sugar trade was being re-opened with India this year because of the difference in prices in the neighbouring country.


"We have allowed the import of sugar but in the rest of the world too, sugar prices are high because of which imports are not possible. But in our neighbouring country — India — the prices of sugar are much less as compared to Pakistan so we have decided to reopen sugar trade with India up to 0.5 million tonnes for the private sector."


Talking about the reason for allowing the import of cotton from India, Azhar said that there was a high demand for it because Pakistan's textile exports had increased but last year's cotton crop was not good.


"The difference [in prices] affects the SMEs (small and medium enterprises. Big industry can buy it from Egypt or other countries."


Moving on to the economy, Azhar said that the PTI government had "inherited the biggest current account deficit in [Pakistan's] history and had converted it into a surplus".


He said that when the PTI government came to power in 2018, Pakistan's foreign reserves were around $8-9 billion, most of which were swaps or taken from other countries.


"Since our government came, if we add swaps, there has been an increase of $9bn of which $6-7bn swaps were cleared. This is a very big achievement," he stressed.


The minister said he and his team were "aware" of their responsibilities and the people's expectations. "The stabilisation we have achieved in our current account, reserves, the growth in LSM (large-scale manufacturing), we will take these forward in a better way," he added.


He emphasised that every policy of the government would be based on the benefit of Pakistan and its people.

Agenda of ECC meeting

There were 21 items on the agenda of the ECC meeting to be chaired by the newly appointed finance minister.


Commerce and Textile divisions had submitted five crucial summaries for approval besides others, sources had earlier told Dawn.


At the agenda no. 16, the Textile Division summary sought permission from the ECC to lift ban on import of cotton and cotton yarn from India in a bid to bridge raw material shortfall for the value-added textile sector.


In addition to this, another summary of the commerce ministry at agenda no. 20 also sought permission to allow import of white sugar from India through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan and commercial importers.


The resumption of import of these goods will lead to partial revival of trade relations. On Aug 9, 2019 Pakistan downgraded trade relations with India in reaction to the latter's decision to revoke Article 370 of its Constitution that granted occupied Kashmir a special status.


In May 2020, Pakistan lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material from India to ensure there is no shortage of essential drugs amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This was the first step of reversing of complete suspension of trade with India.


Previously, cotton, yarn and sugar imports were allowed from all countries except India.


Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is also Minister-in-Charge of Commerce and Textile, has already approved the summaries to be placed before the ECC for approval. It means that the prime minister is already in support of lifting the ban on these products imports from India.

Pakistan to import sugar, cotton from India: Hammad Azhar

Petrol and diesel prices will also be reduced, says finance minister.

www.dawn.com

 

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

Pakistan to import sugar, cotton from India: Hammad Azhar


The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday allowed the private sector to import 0.5 million tonnes of white sugar from India, Finance Minister Hammad Azhar said.

The finance minister added that the country will also import cotton from India starting from end-June this year.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Azhar said that the ECC also decided to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel citing lower rates in the international market. The price of petrol was reduced by Rs1 per litre while the price of diesel was reduced by Rs3 per litre, he shared.

Another decision taken by the ECC during its meeting was to fix the minimum support price for wheat at Rs1,800 per 40 kg which Azhar termed as a "relief for our farmer brothers".

The minister said sugar trade was being re-opened with India this year because of the difference in prices in the neighbouring country.

"We have allowed the import of sugar but in the rest of the world too, sugar prices are high because of which imports are not possible. But in our neighbouring country — India — the prices of sugar are much less as compared to Pakistan so we have decided to reopen sugar trade with India for up to 0.5 million tonnes for the private sector."

He said the government estimated a difference of 15-20 per cent in sugar prices in India as compared to Pakistan.

Talking about the reason for allowing the import of cotton from India, Azhar said that there was a high demand for it because Pakistan's textile exports had increased but last year's cotton crop was not good.

"The difference [in prices] affects the SMEs (small and medium enterprises. Big industry can buy it from Egypt or other countries."

Moving on to the economy, Azhar said that the PTI government had "inherited the biggest current account deficit in [Pakistan's] history and had converted it into a surplus".

He said that when the PTI government came to power in 2018, Pakistan's foreign reserves were around $8-9 billion, most of which were swaps or taken from other countries.

"Since our government came, if we add swaps, there has been an increase of $9bn of which $6-7bn swaps were cleared. This is a very big achievement," he stressed.

The minister said that he and his team were "aware" of their responsibilities and the people's expectations. "The stabilisation we have achieved in our current account, reserves, the growth in LSM (large-scale manufacturing), we will take these forward in a better way," he added.

He emphasised that every policy of the government would be based on the benefit of Pakistan and its people, adding that it would work "day and night" to control inflation.

When asked about Hafeez Shaikh's removal, Azhar said that the former finance minister's "ability and wisdom is not being denied" but it was the prerogative of Prime Minister Imran Khan to select and change his team.

PM Imran had on Monday removed Shaikh and given the portfolio to Azhar, who was already the minister for industries and production, as an additional charge.

Information Minister Shibli Faraz hinted that the prime minister removed Shaikh from the office of finance minister, as the former was not satisfied with the increasing inflation in the country. However, in a late-night tweet, the senator took a U-turn and lauded the services of Shaikh instead.

Faraz said though Azhar was given an additional charge of finance minister, he (Hammad) would continue to serve as finance minister on a long-term basis as the prime minister was quite satisfied and happy with Azhar’s performance.

Talking about the government's raising of $2.5bn in bonds from the international capital market a day earlier, Azhar, in his conference today, termed the move as "very successful".

"We had more than 100 per cent subscription," he claimed.

The minister said the government got "competitive pricing" for the bonds which were "better prices than what other countries who also floated their bonds on the same day received".

In response to a question about the government's proposed bill to make the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) more autonomous, he said it had been drafted while keeping in view the "world's best practices".

He said the government would table the bill in parliament with an "open mind", adding however, that the way the bill was "sensationalised was not correct".

Agenda of ECC meeting
There were 21 items on the agenda of the ECC meeting to be chaired by the newly appointed finance minister.

Commerce and Textile divisions had submitted five crucial summaries for approval besides others, sources had earlier told Dawn.

At the agenda no. 16, the Textile Division summary sought permission from the ECC to lift ban on import of cotton and cotton yarn from India in a bid to bridge raw material shortfall for the value-added textile sector.

In addition to this, another summary of the commerce ministry at agenda no. 20 also sought permission to allow import of white sugar from India through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan and commercial importers.

The resumption of import of these goods will lead to partial revival of trade relations. On Aug 9, 2019 Pakistan downgraded trade relations with India in reaction to the latter's decision to revoke Article 370 of its Constitution that granted occupied Kashmir a special status.

In May 2020, Pakistan lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material from India to ensure there is no shortage of essential drugs amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This was the first step of reversing of complete suspension of trade with India.

Previously, cotton, yarn and sugar imports were allowed from all countries except India.

Prime Minister Imran, who is also Minister-in-Charge of Commerce and Textile, has already approved the summaries to be placed before the ECC for approval. It means that the prime minister is already in support of lifting the ban on these products imports from India.

Pakistan to import sugar, cotton from India: Hammad Azhar

Petrol and diesel prices will also be reduced, says finance minister.

www.dawn.com

 

[maithil]

Pakistan to import sugar, cotton from India: Hammad Azhar


The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday allowed the private sector to import 0.5 million tonnes of white sugar from India, Finance Minister Hammad Azhar said.

The finance minister added that the country will also import cotton from India starting from end-June this year.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Azhar said that the ECC also decided to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel citing lower rates in the international market. The price of petrol was reduced by Rs1 per litre while the price of diesel was reduced by Rs3 per litre, he shared.

Another decision taken by the ECC during its meeting was to fix the minimum support price for wheat at Rs1,800 per 40 kg which Azhar termed as a "relief for our farmer brothers".

The minister said sugar trade was being re-opened with India this year because of the difference in prices in the neighbouring country.

"We have allowed the import of sugar but in the rest of the world too, sugar prices are high because of which imports are not possible. But in our neighbouring country — India — the prices of sugar are much less as compared to Pakistan so we have decided to reopen sugar trade with India for up to 0.5 million tonnes for the private sector."

He said the government estimated a difference of 15-20 per cent in sugar prices in India as compared to Pakistan.

Talking about the reason for allowing the import of cotton from India, Azhar said that there was a high demand for it because Pakistan's textile exports had increased but last year's cotton crop was not good.

"The difference [in prices] affects the SMEs (small and medium enterprises. Big industry can buy it from Egypt or other countries."

Moving on to the economy, Azhar said that the PTI government had "inherited the biggest current account deficit in [Pakistan's] history and had converted it into a surplus".

He said that when the PTI government came to power in 2018, Pakistan's foreign reserves were around $8-9 billion, most of which were swaps or taken from other countries.

"Since our government came, if we add swaps, there has been an increase of $9bn of which $6-7bn swaps were cleared. This is a very big achievement," he stressed.

The minister said that he and his team were "aware" of their responsibilities and the people's expectations. "The stabilisation we have achieved in our current account, reserves, the growth in LSM (large-scale manufacturing), we will take these forward in a better way," he added.

He emphasised that every policy of the government would be based on the benefit of Pakistan and its people, adding that it would work "day and night" to control inflation.

When asked about Hafeez Shaikh's removal, Azhar said that the former finance minister's "ability and wisdom is not being denied" but it was the prerogative of Prime Minister Imran Khan to select and change his team.

PM Imran had on Monday removed Shaikh and given the portfolio to Azhar, who was already the minister for industries and production, as an additional charge.

Information Minister Shibli Faraz hinted that the prime minister removed Shaikh from the office of finance minister, as the former was not satisfied with the increasing inflation in the country. However, in a late-night tweet, the senator took a U-turn and lauded the services of Shaikh instead.

Faraz said though Azhar was given an additional charge of finance minister, he (Hammad) would continue to serve as finance minister on a long-term basis as the prime minister was quite satisfied and happy with Azhar’s performance.

Talking about the government's raising of $2.5bn in bonds from the international capital market a day earlier, Azhar, in his conference today, termed the move as "very successful".

"We had more than 100 per cent subscription," he claimed.

The minister said the government got "competitive pricing" for the bonds which were "better prices than what other countries who also floated their bonds on the same day received".

In response to a question about the government's proposed bill to make the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) more autonomous, he said it had been drafted while keeping in view the "world's best practices".

He said the government would table the bill in parliament with an "open mind", adding however, that the way the bill was "sensationalised was not correct".

Agenda of ECC meeting
There were 21 items on the agenda of the ECC meeting to be chaired by the newly appointed finance minister.

Commerce and Textile divisions had submitted five crucial summaries for approval besides others, sources had earlier told Dawn.

At the agenda no. 16, the Textile Division summary sought permission from the ECC to lift ban on import of cotton and cotton yarn from India in a bid to bridge raw material shortfall for the value-added textile sector.

In addition to this, another summary of the commerce ministry at agenda no. 20 also sought permission to allow import of white sugar from India through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan and commercial importers.

The resumption of import of these goods will lead to partial revival of trade relations. On Aug 9, 2019 Pakistan downgraded trade relations with India in reaction to the latter's decision to revoke Article 370 of its Constitution that granted occupied Kashmir a special status.

In May 2020, Pakistan lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material from India to ensure there is no shortage of essential drugs amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This was the first step of reversing of complete suspension of trade with India.

Previously, cotton, yarn and sugar imports were allowed from all countries except India.

Prime Minister Imran, who is also Minister-in-Charge of Commerce and Textile, has already approved the summaries to be placed before the ECC for approval. It means that the prime minister is already in support of lifting the ban on these products imports from India.

Pakistan to import sugar, cotton from India: Hammad Azhar

Petrol and diesel prices will also be reduced, says finance minister.

www.dawn.com

Hehehe.. hadd hai yaar..

 

[faani83]

A question for Textle Experts: Is there any other good, friendly and cheap source countries or regions of Cotton for Pakistan?

 

[Robbie]

What happened to Pakistan insisting that if India wanted must reinstate A370 before anything else.

 

[maithil]

What happened to Pakistan insisting that if India wanted must reinstate A370 before anything else.

Sugar obviously.. or the lack of it.. hehehe