Top Story
Textile Sector facing 300 million loss daily
Punjab is facing worst energy crisis situation where industries have been denied of electricity and gas due to shortage basis.
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| PakAgriFarming News Week Vol. 03 (Cover) |
The worsening situation continues as the Pakistan ready made garments manufacturers and exporters associations made a statement that textile sector and specially ready made garment industry is facing worst situation as the textile industry is being denied of gas and electricity. Garments industry is basically a small and middle scale industry and they are heavily affected by this energy crisis all over Pakistan and specially in Punjab where the textile sector is totally being denied of gas and electric power. It was also stated that due to this situation Pakistan is not fully exploiting they free duty export treaty with European Union (EU) and also the sector could also provided 100 thousand jobs which is not seeming possible at this moment of time.
News 02
Ginners worried as cotton prices remain static
Import of cotton by China in the coming weeks might provide some relief to the textile industry.
In the wake of the event in the past week and the developing situation of the energy crisis in textile sector; cotton ginners are much worried as the cotton prices still remain stable at Rs. 6100 despite reduced purchase of the cotton by the mills. The imports of Indian cotton is likely to remain active for another 30 days as stated after the mutual understanding. This situation has elevated the worries of the ginning mills who are optimistic that after the commencement of cotton import by China, the markets will again rise and the situation will get better.
News 03
60% increase in the exports of cotton thread
The growth in imports of thread is associated with lower imports of other cotton products.
Pakistani exports of cotton fiber has increased 63% in the first five months of the current fiscal year. The exports have increased from 14.7 million US dollars of the previous year to 24.0 million US dollars in the first five months of the present fiscal year. Last year 4000 metric tons (MT) of cotton fiber was exported.
News 04
Sugarcane production expected to be 4.5 million ton
Sindh has completed its harvest while Punjab has completed about 95% harvest.
In the present season the production of sugarcane is expected to b 4.5 million tons and the local requirements of sugarcane are about 4.2 million tons so ‘National Sugarcane’ is expecting to export sugar this year. This increase in production has been attributed to good cropping season. According to the latest update the harvest has completed in Sindh and Punjab has completed 95% of sugarcane harvest. 30 sugar mills are crushing sugarcane in Sindh and 45 sugar mills are crushing in Punjab. The sugar which is more than the national requirements will be exported and it may earn some foreign exchange.
News 05
4 fertilizer manufacturers will buy gas from wells of SNGPL; consortium formed.
Economic coordination committee has approved the project, work on the project will start in this year.
Four major fertilizer manufacturers of the country has joined hands to buy gas directly from gas wells of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited. According to the newspapers, economic coordination committee has also approved the project. This project has been approved by ECC because 1.2 billion dollars have been spent on imports of urea and another 52 billion dollars have been done away with in subsidizing fertilizer manufacturing. So ECC has decided to supply gas to these four fertilizer manufacturers directly from wells located closer to their plants. In this regards these four companies, namely; Engro, Pak-Arab Fertilizers, Dawood Hercules and Agri-Tech Limited have established a consortium which will make an investment of 60 million dollars for the construction of 140 km of gas pipeline and this will supply 202 mmfd gas to these companies. Gas wells at Bahu, Sarah West, KPK, Kanter pashaki and Mari Extension will be providing this gas and this is expected to reduce the expenses at imports of urea and other fertilizers.
News 06
Wheat export to Iran; expected this month
Due to bans from US and deficient of money in Iran, private sector will import wheat from Pakistan.
The shipment of 100 thousand ton of wheat will be sent to Iran in this month. In exchange Pakistan will get iron ore and fertilizers. This wheat will be exported by the Pakistan Agriculture Storage Cooperation (PASCO) in the end of this month or the start of February. It has been rumored that PASCO had called for bids of 1 million ton of wheat but due to fiscal problems, Iran could only purchase 100 thousand tons of wheat where negotiations are in process for the remaining 900,000 ton wheat exports.
News 07
'Administration is responsible for wheat flour price hike' - Karachi Traders Union
Food department and brokers have teamed up; 300 ‘mafia tax’ is being paid per bag of wheat flour; Karachi Traders Union.
President of All Karachi Traders Union and Retailers grocers alliance of Karachi, Ansaar Baig Qadri has said that food department, minister for food and brokers are responsible for the recent wheat crisis in Karachi. He said that floor mills owners are paying Rs. 300 ‘mafia tax’ per wheat bag they are getting from government. In this way the prices of wheat flour are increasing and the situation is getting problematic with the passing minute. He demanded that the food minister should hold negotiations with the flour mills to decide fixed price for wheat flour. He added that the government of Sindh has fixed the flour at Rs. 32 for milled flour and Rs. 34 for ‘fine’ flour but the mills are not following these rates and selling wheat at prices of their choice, but wholesalers and retailers want that the flour should be sold at the government prices. The administration is seeming to be powerless against strong hoarders and other involved bodies. The common man is suffering all the burden of price hikes and mismanagement, this is a serious issue and must be solved as soon as possible.
News 08
Basmati growers criticize Govt. decision about MFN status to India
Pakistan presently lacks the mechanism to tackle incoming storm of subsidized agricultural products from India – Malhi.
In a recent statement from the president of Basmati growers association, Hamid Malhi has severely criticized government decision of giving ‘most favorite nation (MFN) status to Indus and at the same time expressed deep concerns about the possible outcomes. He said that Pakistan is presently lacking mechanism and strategies to tackle the incoming storm of subsidized agricultural products from India. He added that the government has not even discussed with the stakeholders of agriculture sector of the Pakistan which is adding 23% GDP to the economy of the nation.
News 09
Potato reaches 210 US dollars per ton in International markets
Pakistan will also export potato this year.
Potato prices are soaring high in the international markets and presently standing at 210 US dollars per ton. Pakistan is also intending to export potato in this year because the production is good and due to no exports in the last year 600-700 thousand tons potato had to be put in cold storage last year and the farmers had to sell their potatoes at low price. Pakistan has exported 50 thousand tons potato to Russia in 2009 at 200-210 US dollar per ton. In the present season, the potato crop has again been destroyed in Russia due to heavy snowfall and Pakistan is expecting an export order from Russia. The exporters have said that they will not be waiting for bigger orders this time and exports will be made for all big or small orders. The export of potatoes will not only strengthen the economy but it will also motivate the potato farmers who will get good price for their produce.
News 10
Palm oil imports down by 16.62%
Soybean oil imports have increased in the first six months of the fiscal year.
The imports of palm oil has decreased in the first six months of the fiscal year; from July to November 2012, the imports of the palm oil has been recorded to be 64.311 million US dollars in 2012 compared to 8.2 million US dollars during the same duration in the previous year. The bureau of statistics recorded increase in the imports of soybean oil during the same duration but overall imports of palm oil have been reduced significantly.
News 11
Dry fruits import increased by 70%
Dry fruits are the most relished food in the winter.
The imports of dry fruit have gone up significantly in the first five months of the fiscal year 2012-13 during July to November 2012. Dry fruit imports have been recorded at about 45,000 tons worth 2.70 million rupees. Which are far more than ~37,000 tons of dry fruit imported in the same duration of the previous fiscal year of worth 3.18 million rupees.
News 12
Kinnow production being affected by Fog
The fruits is drying and falling in the orchards due to frost.
The cold winters in this season have shown to be negative for the crops of oranges specially kinnow in all the orange producing districts of Punjab. Since there is no sun in the sky for most of the time and fogs and overcast conditions have resulted in the production of less amount of sweetness, flavor and juice in the oranges and in some orchards the fruit is falling due to winds blowing during fog. Hence the experts are expressing concerns over the situation and say that the exports are going to be reduced by more than 6,000 tons.
News 13
Wheat sowing completed; Report
Wheat has been planted on 5.3 million acres in Punjab and 6.3 million acres in Sindh.
According to the Ministry of Food Security and Research, the sowing of wheat is almost complete in most parts of the country. Wheat has been cultivated on 5.3 million acres in Punjab, 6.3 million acres in Sindh and 234 thousand acres in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The ministry had taken all the necessary possible steps to complete in-time sowing of wheat which will fulfill local requirements as well as export purposes will be fulfilled. In Sindh, 1% more area has been cultivated this year compared to the last year.
News 14
India benefiting from Lazy Pakistan Port Sector
Gwadar port non-functional and delay in deep sea port of Karachi; while India active to increase handling activities at their ports.
India has taken steps to increase the activities at their sea ports by launching 42 major projects. The aim of the projects is to increase the ports capacity upto 3200 million tons by 2020. According to news reports, the non-functioning of Gwadar port and delay in the construction of deep sea port at Karachi is proving beneficial for Indian port industry. In the wake of the recent developments, Indian authorities have approved to call for tenders for 42 projects which means an investment of 150 billion Indian rupee. These projects will increase the capacity of Indian ports by 250 million tons. Tenders for 12 of these 42 projects have already been awarded while the work on the remaining tenders is expected to be completed by the end of March, 2013
International News
1.2 to 2 billion ton food wasted each year: Report
This amount of wasted food is enough to fulfill the requirements of people dying of hunger.
According to a research report of British Institute of Mechanical Engineering it has come to be known that every year 1.2 – 2 billion tons of food is wasted all over the world which is around 30 – 50 % of the food produced each year. The total world food production is about 4 billion tons and we are wasting half of this. According to the research the main reason behind such huge amount of food loss is that much of food is lost during inappropriate food preservation techniques, strict implementation of expiry date and laziness of the buyers. In the current era of high food and energy demands, such wastage of food is an alarming situation where many are dying of the hunger. The increasing human population is putting pressure on food, water, energy and land available and in this situation food must be consumed wisely. So the research scientists are required to design and implement better methods of food production, supply and preservation to deal this problem.
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