Alibaba.com Rankings: Cotton PRODUCERS Ranks: Cotton CONSUMERS Ranks: Cotton EXPORTERS Ranks

Bangladesh is the 7th Largest Importer of Cotton

Recently one of my answers in the Alibaba Resource Forum was awarded the best answer. The title link lands to that page. In the answer I extracted information from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)  about the producing, consuming, exporting and  importing country ranks dealing with cotton.

According to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) the list goes like this:

Cotton PRODUCERS (growers) Ranks - China, USA, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Turkey.

Cotton CONSUMERS Ranks - China, India, Pakistan, USA, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia.

Cotton EXPORTERS Ranks - USA, Uzbekistan, Australia, Brazil, Mali, Greece, Burkina Faso.

Cotton IMPORTERS Ranks - China, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Thailand, Mexico, Bangladesh


China is the major player for cotton in the world. But, the demand for Cotton in China is also immense. Therefore, they have to import cotton as well. The fact that makes USA the major exporter of cotton, is they produce more than their consumption, this is also true for Uzbekistan.

And the reason Bangladesh, Mexico, Pakistan, and Thailand are in the top importer list is because they have the most demand-able textile industries that work as a hub for high quality and low cost yarns and fabrics.

However, the rank of Bangladesh as a Cotton Importing country may rise up the ladder due to more than 100% growth in the Knitwear industry recently. This fact can easily tell us how big is the Bangladesh's Garments Industry.

Pakistan - Punjab plans to double cotton output

Punjab plans to double its cotton production from 8 million bales to 16 million bales by 2015 by ensuring availability of the best biotech cottonseeds and agriculture extension services, Punjab Chief Minister advisor Zulfiqar Khosa said on Wednesday.
 

The government has paved way for introduction of biotech seeds by enacting bio safety laws Khosa said speaking at the fifth meeting of Asian Research and Development Network.

The three-day international conference of cotton research scientists has been jointly sponsored by the Government of Punjab, International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) and Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International (CABI). Fifty delegates from 15 countries are participating in the conference and would read their research papers.

Khosa said that enacting of relevant law has helped in approval of 8 local BT cotton varieties developed by domestic seed companies. He said Punjab government is also negotiating with Monsanto for introduction of latest biotech cottonseed varieties.

The head of ICAC research wing Dr Muhammad Rafiq Chaudhry said there has been an unusual increase in global cotton rates. He said last Friday cotton was quoted at $2.36 a pound.

Cotton crop needs more insecticides than other crops. This high use has been reduced by pest resistant BT cotton varieties. He said global pesticide use on cotton crop has declined by 26 per cent in past one decade. This year 62 per cent of all cotton cultivated in the world was from BT cottonseeds. We could live without use of insecticides by developing required technology.
 

CABI Director Dr Julie said that controlling primary pests and diseases has increased the incidence of secondary pests that needs attention of cotton scientists.

Punjab Secretary Agriculture Arif Nadeem said that many farmers were devastated due to adverse traits of uncertified BT cottonseeds.

Now, with the approval of tested BT cotton varieties, the agriculture extension department would be able to advise the farmers on use of each of the eight approved varieties.

Two million bales were lost annually due to curl leave virus, two million bales due to attack by other insects and one million bales owing to water shortage. Use of pest and virus resistant varieties would avert most of this damage, Nadeem said.

All Pakistan Textile Mills Association Chairman Gohar Ejaz deplored that the cotton production in Pakistan has declined from 70 kilogram per hectare in 1992 to 560 kilogram per hectare this year. Real boost to cotton productivity would come from research by local scientists, Gohar said.

Source: the News, Pakistan

International Machinery Exhibition of Garment & Textile Technology Pakistan 2011, is scheduled from 3-5 March, 2011

The show will be held with the support of Ministry of Textiles and major trade associations related to the industry. Last edition showcased machinery and technology of more than 300 companies represented by 29 countries and was attended by more than 9,000 business professionals affiliated with the textile and garment industry.

A high profile 4th International Technical Textiles Conference is being held in partnership with Textile Institute of Pakistan on 4th and 5th of March, 2011. The Conference is receiving an overwhelming response and will feature a unique portfolio of leading textile industry players as well as research institutions and academia professors.

These eminent speakers will disseminate new knowledge about innovative use of Technical Textiles in various applications; particularly the materials that can provide easy to deploy emergency shelters, clothing, construction, safety/protection, medical, filtration, transport and agriculture.

MEGATECH 2011 will also organise a ‘Knowledge Village – Pavilion’ for leading local textile research and development universities/institutes to display their research projects.

This year more than 100 local and international machinery manufacturers from China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, U.A.E. & U.S.A. will be participating at MEGATECH Pakistan 2011. The exhibition will continue its tradition to attract more than 10,000 key visitors from all the major textile cities of Pakistan.

The increasing imports of textile and garment machinery substantiate the need for exhibitions such as MEGATECH, which is a comprehensive platform for display of the latest and innovative technology for the textile and garment industry.

MEGATECH Pakistan 2011

Pakistan has regained trade relief from the EU, whereby certain textile items would enjoy duty-free access in the EU nations for next three years.

Pakistan’s textile exports are expected to witness a rise of three billion dollars in near future, as United States and , waive the trade restrictions imposed on Pakistan, the industry sources revealed. As the EU granted duty-free access for Pakistani textile goods in 2003, there has been a remarkable rise in Pakistan’s textile exports since then, and the same was recorded at $ 10.3 billion by close of June, this year.

Now, once again Pakistan has regained trade relief from the EU, whereby certain textile items would enjoy duty-free access in the EU nations for next three years, as it will come into effect from January 1, 2011. But a lot depends upon the action which WTO might take with regard to this duty waiver issued by the EU.

Pakistan, being a beneficiary of the US Generalized System of Preferences program, presently enjoys zero-duty status on around $200 million worth of its exports, but textile products are excluded from this.

As stated by the industry sources, the US penalized the Pakistani exports with a duty of $315 million, last year, which came to around 10 percent of the total value of those exports. As textile goods are subjected to heavy duty, Pakistan has to pay unequal duties compared to other diversified countries.

All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) management has been convincing the US authorities at every level for granting the Pakistani textile exports with as many duty concessions as possible. The association leadership has also criticized the slow progress in the US Senate on the passage of law on the setting up of Reconstruction of Opportunity Zones (ROZs). The Aptma management has further claimed that in spite of the lead taken by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism, the US has not yet responded to the country’s textile sector in an apt manner.