Cotton arrivals reach 4.08 million bales by 15 October, up 7.53% as mills struggle

Cotton arrivals in Pakistan reached 4,081,265 bales up to 15 October 2026, according to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), up 285,628 bales or 7.53% on the 3,795,637 bales that had reached ginneries by the same date last year. Another 872,863 bales arrived in the first half of October alone, Dawn reported on Monday.

The higher arrivals come at a bad time for the trade: the industry says demand from spinning mills is weak, cheap imported yarn and fabric are taking market share, and hundreds of ginning factories have shut.

Punjab and Sindh

Sanghar is by far the biggest district, with 1.14 million bales. In Sindh it is followed by Sukkur (264,500), Naushehro Feroze (223,200) and Khairpur (213,900). In Punjab, Bahawalnagar leads with 418,750 bales, then Bahawalpur (294,606), Dera Ghazi Khan (236,514), Rahim Yar Khan (169,949) and Layyah (122,327).

Who is buying

Textile mills have bought about 3.45 million bales and exporters 97,000. That leaves 531,530 bales unsold at the ginneries. 471 ginning factories are working across the country, against claims from the industry that about 500 ginning units and more than 150 textile mills have closed and nearly half of the country's power looms are idle.

Why the industry is worried

• Imports. Man-made yarn imports rose from 3,056 tonnes in July to September last year to 12,773 tonnes in the same quarter this year, and man-made fabric imports from 660 tonnes to 8,628 tonnes, according to figures cited by Dawn. Aptma has welcomed Customs action on misuse of the Export Facilitation Scheme and wants limits on these imports.
• Crop size. Ihsanul Haq, chairman of the Cotton Ginners Forum, warned that bad weather could pull national output below early estimates. He also pointed to a gap between the Punjab Crop Reporting Service's estimate of 2.983 million bales for the province and the 1.638 million that had actually arrived by mid-October.
• Next season. Sajid Mahmood of the Central Cotton Research Institute in Multan said farmers may cut the area under cotton if returns stay low, and advised them to watch for pink bollworm.
• Prices. Naseem Usman of the Karachi Cotton Brokers Forum asked for a government buying mechanism if market prices fall below the support price.

What it means for you

Cotton is Pakistan's biggest export input, and weak mills mean fewer jobs in Faisalabad, Multan and Karachi's industrial areas. For growers, the arrivals data is the best early guide to how the crop is selling. Exporters are paid in dollars, so the rupee matters: track it on our USD to PKR page and convert contract values with the currency converter.

The PCGA releases arrival figures every fortnight; the next report covers arrivals up to 31 October.