20000102

Ginners worried

at stockpiling

of cotton

KARACHI: Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) said on Saturday that more than 2 million cotton bales were piled up with ginning mills in Pakistan.

The acting PCGA chairman Ch. Masood Bajwa said in a statement that termination of cotton procurement has resulted in the piling up of stock at ginning mills, creating storage and financial problems.

He urged the government to direct TCP to restart cotton procurement.

He said TCP had also agreed to lift "Alaqa" and "Adnas" varieties during its campaign alongwith "Afzal" lint at a meeting with Commerce Minister Abdul Razzak Daud, but it was now refusing to buy these grades from ginners.

Bajwa said on the assurance of TCP, the ginning mills had started purchasing "Alaqa" and "Adnas" from growers. But TCP's refusal to purchase these two varieties has created problems for ginners, he maintained.

He said more than 2 million cotton bales are piled up with the ginning mills, converting them into warehouses.

He said ginners will stop cotton purchase from growers, if TCP failed to procure other varieties of cotton from the ginners.ÑAPP