Pakistan Allows Import of 500,000 Bales of Cotton From India

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan, the fourth-largest cotton producer, allowed the import of 500,000 bales of the fiber from India to help boost stocks, after poor weather and pest attacks damaged the crop.

"The import of short-staple cotton has been allowed through land routes via the Wagah border," Ashfaque H. Khan, the government's economic adviser told reporters in Islamabad today.

Pakistan's textile makers, who provide 60 percent of the nation's overseas shipments, need cotton to help meet export targets. The South Asian nation will harvest 9.9 percent less cotton than previously estimated after poor weather and bugs hurt the crop this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The government will ensure that the imported cotton is sprayed so that the local crop isn't contaminated, Khan said.

Cotton production in the year that started Aug. 1 will be 2.04 million metric tons, down from 2.27 million forecast in May, said a Nov. 13 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Consumption is expected to be unchanged at 2.74 million tons.

The production forecast was cut because of "poor germination following heavy rainfall during the sowing season, late planting due to water shortage and high temperatures in August and September resulting in shedding of fruit (bolls)," according to the report. The crop also endured "severe and widespread attack" of the cotton leaf curl virus and mealybugs, it said.

Pakistan will be a net importer of cotton for a seventh straight year, according to a U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service report on Oct. 9. Pakistan imports cotton from the U.S., Brazil, India and Uzbekistan.