- Cotton imports may pick up once local arrivals fully dry up and the winter season is over, offering more clarity on the scale of recession in exporting destinations. Rs 37.4 billion was the export value of cotton cloth in Oct 2022.
- The COP27 host Egypt scrambled to salvage UN climate talks with the European Union signaling a breakthrough over the issue of “loss and damage” funding for climate-vulnerable nations with Pakistan taking the lead in the establishment of the fund that would help poor countries being battered by climate disasters.
- Rs 175 million was the import value of sugar in Oct 2022, down 98% compared to Rs 10.08 billion in Oct 2021. An officer of the Matiari Sugar Mills management has cautioned the Sindh government that sugar mills could go for suspending cane crushing if the cane price was fixed at Rs 300 per 40 kg or so in Sindh, like Punjab did, for the 2022-23 season. PSMA and the government are set to meet to determine this season’s export policy.
- The Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) claims that supply has been suspended to those units using gas for power generation due to which production has come to a standstill, report industrialists.
- Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has advised President Dr Arif Alvi against creating any “sort of disorder” in the next army chief’s appointment as the process for the selection is slated to begin this week. PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday asked people to converge in Rawalpindi on November 26 to restart the “Haqiqi Azadi March”.
- China’s Guangzhou has locked down its largest district while schools across Beijing have moved to online classes as authorities battle numerous COVID-19 flare-ups across the country following three COVID-related deaths, the first in the past six months.
- A 5.6 earthquake rattled Indonesia’s main island of Java, damaging dozens of buildings and killing at least 14 people with fears the casualty figures could rise.
COMMODITIES - CROPS, LIVESTOCK & HORTICULTURE
- Cotton Imports: Come 2023, cotton imports may very well pick up once local arrivals fully dry up and the winter season is over, offering more clarity on the true scale and extent of recession in the textile exporting destinations. However, even if average monthly cotton imports double from here on, it would still struggle to top the peak import volume of 5 million bales witnessed over the last two years. [BR] [Dawn]
- Textile Exports: Rs 37.4 billion was the export value of cotton cloth in Oct 2022, up 18.65% compared to Rs 31.5 billion in Oct 2021. The Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) has expressed concern over the decline in textile exports, which dropped by 1.34% year-on-year to $5.941 billion in the first four months (Jul-Oct) of the current fiscal year. [ET] [ET]
- Sugar Import: Rs 175 million was the import value of sugar in Oct 2022, down 98% compared to Rs 10.08 billion in Oct 2021. [ET]
- Sugarcane Crushing: An officer of the Matiari Sugar Mills management has cautioned the Sindh government that sugar mills could go for suspending cane crushing if the cane price was fixed at Rs 300 per 40 kg or so in Sindh, like Punjab did, for the 2022-23 season. [Dawn]
- Rice Exports: Rice exporters are braced for a lacklustre year ahead amid fears of at least a 30% drop in production in Sindh due to damage to crops caused by flash floods earlier this year. Rs 11.37 billion was the export value of Basmati in October 2022, up 47.71% compared to Rs 7.7 billion in October 2021, according to PBS. [Dawn] [ET]
- Poultry Farms Closure: Businessmen have expressed fear that 30,000 poultry farms will be closed, more than 300 feed mills will be affected and investment of about Rs 1,200 billion will be stopped in the poultry sector because of delay in clearance of soybean at the port in Karachi. [ET]
- Fruit and Vegetable Exports: $54 million is the amount of fruit and vegetable exports to China from January-September. [ET]
- Tea and Coffee Import: Ambassador of Ethiopia and Plenipotentiary Jemal Beker Abdula has said that his country has surplus tea as well as coffee which can be exported to Pakistan at affordable rates. Rs 12.6 billion was the import value of tea in October 2022, up 97.94% compared to Rs 6.3 billion in October 2021, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. [BR] [ET]
- Dry Fruit Rates: With the advent of the winter season, the demand for dry fruits has increased in Multan with a remarkable price hike as compared to the previous year. With the change of weather in the city, the demand for dry fruits has started increasing and the prices have also gone up gradually. [BR]
AGRI-INPUTS, WEATHER, WATER & POWER
- The Seed Conundrum: Four decades ago, Indian companies were allowed to import seeds for eight years, after which they had to develop them locally or leave the country, which is why today India exports seeds whereas Pakistan is still dependent on imports of seeds. [Dawn]
- Fertiliser Subsidies: Ensuring DAP’s realistic and stable prices, free of anomalies, is a challenge that can’t be left to market forces alone, especially when a few players are controlling its manufacturing and import. [Dawn]
- Post Flood: The government does not have district-wise data of the population affected by the recent devastating floods in the country, it was learnt in a talk show on Friday night. [ET]
- Urea Import: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on the Cabinet has allowed the import of 125,000 metric tons of urea from China on a government-to-government (G2G) basis on deferred payment of 90 days besides an import of 35,000 metric tons on G2G basis from Azerbaijan to meet domestic demand. [BR] [The Nation]
- Industry Gas worries: As the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) claims that supply has been suspended to those units using gas for power generation, the industrialists said on Thursday that production has come to a standstill due to zero gas pressure in industries. [Dawn]
- RLNG Supply: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet has constituted an inter-ministerial committee headed by the Secretary of Industries and Production to examine the possibility of supply of RLNG to Fatima Fert and Agritech Fertilizer plants vis-à-vis import of urea to cater the requirement of urea in the country beyond December 2022. [BR]
- LNG Imports: Pakistan has borne a loss of over Rs. 10 billion due to mismanagement in the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes that led to the purchase of expensive fuel, noted the Auditor General of Pakistan in its report. [ET]
- IRSA Water Release: 13,100 cusecs of water flow was recorded in Sukkur Barrage, as per the Indus River System Authority. [ET]
AGRI UPDATES & PAKISTAN POLICY
- Loss and Damage Fund: Pakistan on Sunday welcomed the announcement that countries adopted a hard-fought final agreement at the COP27 climate summit that sets up a fund to help poor countries being battered by climate disasters. Pakistan has played a leading role in bringing this fund to reality. [BR] [Dawn] [ET] [ET] [APP] [The News]
- Pak-Afghan Border: Pakistan agreed on Sunday conditionally to reopen the Chaman border with Afghanistan, more than a week after firing from the Afghan side on Frontier Corps officials at the Friendship Gate led to its closure. [Dawn] [ET] [Geo News]
- Afghan Trade Through Airports: The government has decided to allow Afghan transit trade through all the international airports of the country including the ports, according to a draft of the amendments to the Customs Rules shared with stakeholders by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). [ET]
- Pak-Turkey Relations: Turkey and Pakistan enjoy warm relations and Ankara is keen to boost bilateral trade to at least $5 billion in the next two to three years. The current volume of trade is not reflective of the actual potential of both countries. [ET]
- Currency Swap Facility: The cost of a $4.5 billion Chinese currency swap facility for repaying debt went up by 39% to a record Rs 36.3 billion in the last fiscal year, a burden that will increase further as Pakistan has requested China to augment the facility’s size. [ET]
- COAS Selection: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday advised President Dr Arif Alvi against creating any “sort of disorder” in the next army chief’s appointment. The process for the selection is slated to begin this week. [ET] [The News]
- PTI March: While announcing what appeared to be the final showdown with the government to force it to announce an early election date, PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday asked people to converge on Rawalpindi on November 26 to restart the “Haqiqi Azadi March”. [ET] [ET]
INTERNATIONAL – OVERVIEW & MARKET OUTLOOK
- Indonesia Earthquake: An earthquake rattled Indonesia’s main island of Java, damaging dozens of buildings and killing at least 14 people with fears the casualty figures could rise. The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.6 quake on Monday was centred in the Cianjur region in West Java province at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles). It sent residents in the capital Jakarta running to the streets for safety. [AlJazeera] [Geo News] [KJ]
- China COVID Lockdown: China’s Guangzhou has locked down its largest district while schools across Beijing have moved to online classes as authorities battle numerous COVID-19 flare-ups across the country. Guangzhou, a southern metropolis that is home to almost 19 million people, on Monday announced a five-day lockdown for the most populous district of Baiyun. This follows three deaths in the capital from COVID, the first in six months. [The Guardian] [Al Jazeera]
- Tumult at Twitter: Since buying Twitter last month, Elon Musk has made radical, chaotic changes at the social media company, including firing half the staff and imposing what he calls a “hardcore” work culture. [BR]
- UN COP27 Talks: The COP27 host Egypt scrambled to salvage UN climate talks Saturday with the European Union (EU) signaling a breakthrough over the contentious issue of “loss and damage” funding for climate-vulnerable nations. [ET] [The News]
- Malaysia Election Results: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he had the numbers to form a government and that he would get a chance to lead the country after the weekend vote produced the first-ever hung parliament. Party leaders have until Monday afternoon to inform the nation’s monarch of their choice of prime minister and the alliances they have formed. Mahathir Mohamad, the 97-year-old elder statesman, lost his parliamentary seat in Saturday’s polls, ending the career of one of Asia’s most enduring politicians. [Dawn] [ET]
- Russia-Ukraine War: Kyiv and Moscow on Sunday traded accusations of shelling on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that Russia controls in southern Ukraine. [BR] [ET] [ET]
- 105 Cops Martyred in K-P Attacks in 2022 as they became the target of TTP atrocities [ET]
- Trump’s Twitter Account: Donald Trump has rejected returning to Twitter, but as he embarks on a new presidential campaign, will he be able to resist? Trump’s Twitter account was reinstated as a poll conducted by Elon Musk over the weekend. [BR] [Dawn] [Dawn]
- Karachi’s Transport Conundrum: “It is evident that Karachi needs a decent mass transit system urgently. The lack of provision of a mass transit system coupled with exorbitant price hikes in petroleum prices accrues to the disadvantage of low-income groups. If not, considered with empathy, this factor is enough to bring the city back to its yesteryears’ chaotic state. The Karachi transport issues cannot be handled in isolation. They have a strong connection with housing, employment, and educational opportunities and other social changes taking place in Karachi”. - By Mansoor Raza [ET]
- How Afghans are turning Balochistan Green: “Afghan refugees who fled to Pakistan, first during the Soviet invasion of their country and, later, during the American-led invasion, are often vilified as either economic burdens or as security threats. But in parts of Balochistan, they have quietly transformed the province’s agriculture sector through their skills and sheer hard work. Could Balochistan and Pakistan embrace them and learn from them?” - By Muhammad Akbar Notezai | Hummal Baloch [Dawn]
