PAKISTAN COTTON MARKET
During the last week in the local cotton market, no business activity was observed, buyers are waiting for the arrival of new cotton expected by end of May to early June. Punjab expects that the sowing area of cotton will be increased from 4 million acres to 4.5 million acres if the availability of water for the cotton crop is increased. Though water shortage had hit the cotton crop in some divisions but situation is quite healthy in the divisions where tube-well water is used. To date, Punjab had achieved 62 percent of the target of four million acres of land which was 30 percent more than the previous year. cotton can be sown till June 07, and we are quite hopeful to manage the target.
In the local cotton market, prices remained firm this week despite no business. KCA was the same at Rs.21,000 per maund. The local cotton market prices were between Rs 19000 ~21, and 800 per maund. An unprecedented increase was recorded in the rate of cotton in India during the last week. During the last week, the rate of cotton in India increased by Rs 35000 per candy. The trading of Shankar 6 quality cotton crossed Rs one lac even though the Indian government had lifted 11 percent imposed import duty on cotton till September and there are rumors that the government of India is considering imposing a ban on the export of cotton. In India, some mills had reduced their working hours to cut down their production.
Many mills are using polyester fiber. Although, textile mills in Tamil Nadu are closing their operations because there is a disparity in cotton yarn as compared to cotton. An overall bullish trend prevails in the international cotton market. The rate of New York Cotton is not stable and major fluctuation is being observed. Due to this markets are confused and disturbed. According to the weekly export report of USDA more than 27000 bales of 2021-22 were sold which is 88 percent less as compared to last week. India was number one with 19,800 bales. Textile and spinners can face difficulties in forwarding trading in the next season keeping in view the bullish trend in the rate of New York Cotton.
The price of cotton was between Rs 18,800 to Rs 21,000 per maund. The price of Phutti was in the range of USC 1.20~1.32 Lbs. (18,800~21,000/ maund).
| Opening Of the Week | Closing Of the Week | Change | |
| Lowest | 122.00 | 118.00 | -4.00 |
| Highest | 136.00 | 132.00 | -4.00 |
CRUDE OIL
Crude Oil prices opened at USD 103.09 a low level compared to last week’s closing figures. This week, crude oil prices dropped in the next session, later showed an upward trend in the whole week, and closed on the upward side by the end of the week.
On the last day of the week, Crude Oil prices closed at USD 110.49 with an increase of 7.40 cents as of the opening figure of the week.
| Opening of Week | Closing Of Week | Change | |
| Price | 103.09 | 110.49 | 7.40 |
EXCHANGE RATE
Last week value of the Pak rupee slightly depreciated against the US Dollar, and other major currencies
showed mix trend in both interbank and open markets.
At the end of the week, Euro closed on a negative note with a figure of 1.04 and British Pound also closed on a negative note with a figure of 1.22 against the USD.
| Selling | Buying | |
| LC Sight | 192.75 | 192.70 |
| LC 120 Days | 192.25 | 192.20 |
| Open Market | 193.50 | 191.60 |
NEW YORK COTTON FUTURE
New York Cotton futures opened with low levels on Monday compared to the previous week’s closing figures.
NYCF showed an upward trend this week and closed on the positive side by the end of the week.
On the last day of the week, JULY 2022 closed at 145.20 with a rose of 227 points.
On the last day of the week, OCT 2022 closed at 134.70 with an increase of 452 points.
On the last day of the week, DEC 2022 closed at 127.99 with upward of 436 points.
LIVER POOL INDICES
Liverpool Index A was opened at 167.45 lower than the previous week’s closing figure.
In this week, Index “A” showed a downward trend, hence slightly recovered on closing but closed on the negative side by the end of the week.
On the last day of the week, LPI “A” closed at 162.20, decreasing 525 points.
| Opening of the Week | Closing of the Week | Change | |
| Index A | 167.45 | 162.20 | -5.25 |
PAKISTAN YARN MARKET
The local yarn market continued stable in asking prices & slow in business. Yarn rates are firm due to the US dollar and cotton elevate trend. Sellers were engrossed in vending the yarn whereas limited inquiry flow was seen in the market. The raw cotton prices in the Global market are followed by NYCF. On another side presently the acute pressure of sales in the challenging market is anxiously expected if NYCF’s inclination is downward.
PSF prices were increased by Rs.2/kg dated 09th May 2022 by IFL in the domestic market. PTA and MEG prices were firm in the international market and crude oil prices also stayed unwavering by end of this week. For next week, PSF prices are expected to increase Rs.2~3/kg & yarn rates are projected to remain strong as well.
Faisalabad trading market was again unhurried and partial activity was seen. Traders were in selling their stocks and loom owners were in a tough position in yarn managing. Fine counts demand was the usual and restrained sale of PV/Viscose reported instead of increased raw fiber prices.
The followings are the latest querying prices of yarn in the local market based on ex mills:
| Count | Price in Pak Rupees / 10 LBS | Price US$/Bale |
| 16/1 Carded Weaving | 3204 – 3349 | 665 – 695 |
| 20/1 Carded Weaving | 3277 – 3470 | 680 – 720 |
| 30/1 Carded Weaving | 3662 – 3735 | 760 – 775 |
| 20/1 CM | 3903 – 4000 | 810 – 830 |
| 30/1 PC Carded Weaving 52:48 | 2674 – 3012 | 555 – 625 |
| 40/1 Combed Compact Weaving | 4481 – 4530 | 930 – 940 |
| 60/1 Combed Compact Weaving | 5590 – 6120 | 1160 – 1270 |
| 80/1 Combed Compact Weaving | 8433 – 8866 | 1750 – 1840 |
EXPORT YARN MARKET
The export yarn market remained under sluggish business activity.
Customers floated good numbers of inquiries against which order confirmations were minimal. The major reason is still the uncertainties prevailing around the globe. Demand from the finished product customers is squeezing and this has put a significant impact on the overall supply chain.
Cotton prices are still rising but it has not put any impact on yarn prices due to slow demand from customers in domestic as well as international markets. At the same time, the supplier is not in a position to sell at low yarn prices as now, their old cotton stocks are depleting and they are on the sideline of business this no such activity was witnessed.
Overall business remained under wait and see mode due to fluctuation in US cotton. This has made suppliers and customers confused and no business was closed.
Cotton prices are extremely high and suppliers are not able to sell any yarns with cotton parity. This has made suppliers cut down their productions or shift their production towards fine counts to save cotton stocks.
Chinese customers remained on the sideline due to the continuous slash of RMB against USD. They are feeling Burdon of upcoming shipments for which they have to pay on new RMB rate as well as on new lc opening.
Overall Chinese customers remained under wait and see mode and no such business activity was witnessed. European customers are very upset with uncertainties prevailing due to Ukraine- Russia war and not taking any chances for future deals.
| Count | USD / Bale |
| 16/1 Carded Weaving | 695 – 705 |
| 20/1 Carded Weaving | 710 – 720 |
| 20/1 CM | 755 – 765 |
| 16/1 CM | 750 – 760 |
| 20/2 CD | 820 – 830 |
| 24/2 CD | 845 – 855 |
| 10/1 CARDED SIRO YARN WEAVING | 605 – 635 |
PAKISTAN FABRIC MARKET
After a long week of holidays, the local fabric market opened with the cautious app, roach and the week closed with slow activity for both narrow and wider width fabrics.
Finishers remained shared limited inquiries and resultantly limited business materialization reported for both narrow and wider width looms. Weavers kept their asking prices at the same level despite the increase in prices in the international cotton market. Due to the availability of limited orders, weavers are showing their desperation and following each inquiry to materialize it.
Buyers are still bidding approx. 5~6% lower than the asking prices of weavers. As a result, weavers could not extend their booking and still, they have covered their narrow width till the end of May/early June and wider width looms till the end of June and offering deliveries onward. Each weaver is carrying stocks due to which they are facing a liquidity crunch.
| Construction | Price US$/YD Ex Mill |
| 20CDX16CD/128X60 – 63″ 3/1 “S” TWILL PAK CTN | 1.63 – 1.65 |
| 16X12/108X56 63″ 3/1 | 1.79 – 1.81 |
| 20CDX20CD/108X58 63″ 3/1 “S” TWILL PAK CTN | 1.33 – 1.35 |
EXPORT FABRIC MARKET
A limited number of inquiries were exchanged by Far Eastern customers resulting in limited buying during the week due to less demand in the last few weeks.
Asking prices are stable despite an increase in NYCF and suppliers are chasing orders aggressively. The lead time is very attractive from the suppliers due to fewer orders as they are offering 30~40 days lead time depending on the quality.
Suppliers are booked till mid of June and offering end-June onward deliveries. European customers are looking for very cheap prices which is quite a hard task for the suppliers nowadays. Due to slow demand, some of the suppliers are accepting even lower prices just to fill their looms however depreciation of the Pak rupee against the USD is somehow compensating them.
Wider width suppliers are continuously chasing orders and offering 40~50 days lead time which is quite good for wider width fabric USA buyers have placed a good quantity of orders in CVC yarn counts at very low prices with their regular suppliers.
Following were the closing rates based on CNF Far Eastern ports.
| Construction | Price US$/YD CNF Far East |
| 20CDX16CD/128X60 – 63″ 3/1 “S” TWILL PAK CTN | 1.64 – 1.66 |
| 16X12/108X56 63″ 3/1 | 1.80 – 1.82 |
| 20CDX20CD/108X58 63″ 3/1 “S” TWILL PAK CTN | 1.34 – 1.36 |
BED LINEN & TOWELS
Home Textile’s overall situation is the same as last week, few orders are placed by customers before the
EID holidays but a large volume of business is not being placed. US big retailers have slowed down their
goods lifting from factories and monitoring the situation as stocks have piled up with them and they are planning according to the current situation. NYCF is one of the factors in customers’ decisions as they are waiting for the market to settle down.
The next few weeks are expected to as per the current situation and customers will keep reviewing all factors before placing some volumes. There is also a financial crunch developing throughout the textile industry due to the slow lifting of goods, vessel congestion, and change of payment mode of factories which is a big concern for the industry.
GARMENTS
In general, apparel customers kept the factory production area busy until the end of July 22. Now the
factories are offering deliveries from July onward. Commodity prices are showing strong sentiment, so
given the strong sentiment for spinning mill yarn prices, garment makers are also reluctant to cut prices beyond a certain level.
Over the last week, it has been observed that clients have been holding orders and are not interested in placing large orders in the market now. The only reason is the instability of commodity prices, and the other factor is the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Garment and power looms are working only with 30- 50% capacity, due to higher cotton yarn rates garment industry and power looms associations decided to cut down production hours to reduce the overheads.
GOING FORWARD
About the future market, it is projected that Local yarn prices will be nattering to local cotton prices and
international trends of NYCF, and demand from the end customers. Further price fondness will be according to the demand and supply of different yarn counts which will lead to the price level.
For the local cotton, buyers are waiting for the new crop arrival expected by the end of May to early June, hence they are not expecting that prices will reduce and will keep buying upon the arrival of cotton. International cotton prices are still confused and unpredictable; no one knows what will happen in the coming days as cotton prices are at peak levels. At these price levels, business materialization is much more difficult, everyone keeping eye on the NYCF behavior and waiting for the drop.
Moving forward we expect that the local fabric market will remain slow for the coming weeks owing to the absence of confirmed bulk inquiries.
Export yarn-based customers remained on the sideline. Very limited numbers of inquiries were floated against which business activity was almost nil. They are still expecting a decline in prices which was the reason for slow business activity.
For Export fabric, this quarter of the year is very challenging as the demand suddenly dropped down. Prices are stable and rather attractive but customers are placing only urgent orders at very low prices.
The next few weeks also seem to remain slow in business. The garment industry is in trouble due to the instability of raw material prices and the shortage of demand from the customers.
The next few weeks are expected to be remaining the same as per the current situation for the home textile sector. Customers will keep reviewing all factors before placing some volumes. There is also a financial crunch developing throughout the textile industry due to the slow lifting of goods, vessel congestion, and change of payment mode of factories which is a big concern for the industry.
