Cotton demand is fast rebounding after easing lockdown as textile companies are abuzz with reviving industrial activities to include Pakistan among the world’s top recipients of foreign orders post shutdown.

While textile and spinning mills keep purchasing cotton arrival remains slow due to rainfalls, sending prices up during the start of the week. Later on, however, prices decreased in the market as quality of lint dropped because of rain, traders said.

During the outgoing week, lint prices in Sindh remained at Rs8,200 to Rs8,300 per maund. In Punjab, the prices were in the range of Rs8,550 to Rs8,650, while price was between Rs8,350 to Rs8,375 per maund in Balochistan. Karachi Cotton Association’s spot rate committee increased the spot rate by Rs100 to Rs8,350 per maund.

In Pakistan, cotton production might fall in the country due to heavy rains in cotton growing areas of Sindh and Punjab, which might lead local mills to import more lint, said Ihsan ul Haq, chairman of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association.

Cotton production in the Punjab, the biggest cotton producer, is estimated at around 7.5 million bales of cotton. Last year, cotton sowing in the country declined 18 percent in the country. In Punjab only, cotton sowing decreased 18.16 percent.