Cotton prices have increased by 7 per cent owing to floods in the country, while yarn prices have also hiked by 20 per cent, which could ultimately render the textile industry redundant in the international market.
The price of raw cotton has increased by 7 per cent, reaching a range of Rs5,300-5,750 per mound just in a week.
According to a cotton grower in southern Punjab, crops worth billions of rupees have been damaged due to flooding of main rivers including Chenab, Jhelum and Ravi. He said that the remaining fields saved from submerging were vulnerable to pest attacks as well.
Almost all the province has been inundated by massive rain showers, which have destroyed the cotton belt of the areas of Northern, central and southern Punjab.
The experts said that the price of raw cotton would further boost if the situation remained unsolved. Whenever the price of the raw cotton shoots up, the yarn prices will automatically increase, they said. The yarn merchants in Faisalabad said that a rise in cotton prices have created a crisis-like situation in the yarn market.
