By Mr Perfect Cotton, Sugar Imports by Pakistan to Rise After Floods, Farm Minister Says Pakistan may import 700,000 metric tons of sugar and 4 million bales of cotton to ease shortages and cool prices after the country’s worst-ever floods damaged standing crops, the country’s farm minister said. “Sugar production will reach 3.3 million tons,” against an annual demand of 4.2 million tons, said Nazar Muhammad Gondal in an interview in Islamabad. Cotton output may total 11 million bales, less than the 15 million bales required, he said. Increased purchases by Pakistan may worsen global supply shortages that have made cotton and sugar the best performers this year among 19 materials in the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index. The floods caused $9.7 billion in damage, according to the Asian Development Bank, including $3.3 billion in terms of crop losses, Gondal said. Raw sugar for March delivery climbed as much as 1.4 percent to 33.59 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S., nearing the highest in almost three decades. White sugar in London advanced the most in eight days. March-delivery cotton reached a record $1.5912 a pound on Dec. 21. Prices have doubled this year. Gondal’s sugar-import forecast exceeds the 600,000 tons predicted this month by the Sindh Abadgar Board, a grower’s group. The government Sept. 16 said the country would face a deficit of 1.2 million tons next year. Pakistan has bought 1.2 million tons for calendar 2010. The country’s cotton exports this year may total 600,000 bales of 170 kilograms (375 pounds) each, from 800,000 bales, according to the Karachi Cotton Brokers’ Association. Rice Fields Pakistan’s rice exports will decline after flood waters washed away fields, Gondal said. “We lost our entire exportable crop in the province of Sindh,” he said, predicting shipments may drop to 1.5 million tons from 4 million tons last year. Exports from July 1 to Dec. 12 were 1.5 million tons valued at $820 million, the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan said Dec. 14. The group expects to sell as much as $2.2 billion worth of the grain, matching last year’s receipts, it said. Exporters are marketing rice from the previous year’s crop, while this year’s stockpiles will be limited, Gondal said. Still, the floods have helped refresh farmlands at several placed across the country and yield from those farms is likely to improve with better, more fertile soil and availability of water in the next season, an analyst said. ‘Self-Sufficient’ “The floods will help Pakistan achieve self-sufficiency in food in the year ending June” because of increased fertility, said Muhammad Ali Kazmi, head of commodities at Invest Capital and Securities. “Crops will give a bounty.” Pakistan may become self-sufficient in wheat, said Gondal. Output may total 23 million tons, compared with the government’s estimate of 24 million tons and annual consumption of 22 million tons, he said. A unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Dec. 14 predicted a harvest of 23.9 million tons. The government Dec. 7 lifted a ban on exports of the grain, prompting estimates the country would ship as much as 2 million tons in the year ending June. Gondal didn’t say how much wheat will be sold abroad. The country hopes to lower its edible-oil import bill from $1.7 billion by asking farmers to increase the area planted with sunflower and canola, Gondal said. “We have covered 1.1 million acres with sunflower seeds and another 100,000 acres with canola. We hope the growth will reduce the edible oil bill by $700 million dollars,” he said.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 15:11:53 +0000
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