On Thursday, seed cotton (Kapas/Phutti) prices in Sindh were said to have ranged from Rs 3200 to Rs 3500 per 40 Kgs, while in the Punjab they reportedly ranged from Rs 3300 to Rs 3800 per 40 Kilogrammes. Lint prices in Sindh were said to have extended from Rs 6200 to Rs 7000 per maund (37.32 Kgs) while in the Punjab they reportedly ranged from Rs 6400 to Rs 6700 per maund in a firm market.
According to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) in its seed cotton (Kapas/Phutti) report for the current season (August 2016 / July 2017) total arrivals up to the 1st of February 2017 were 10,634,627 lint equivalent bales (155 Kgs) from which the domestic mills picked up 9,515,478 bales. Exporters lifted 358,418 bales while the ginners were carrying an unsold stock of 916,793 bales.
A meeting is being held at the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) on Friday the 10th of February, 2017 to meet Mr. Jurg Reinhart, President of the International Cotton Association and a leading cotton merchant (ICA) at 1500 hours, and Mr. Kal Hughes, Managing Director of ICA, who will brief the cotton trade about the updates on the latest development of the ICA. Later in the evening, the honourable guests will be feted at a dinner at the Kolachi Restaurant in Karachi.
According to market reports, Pakistani mills have booked nearly 2.2 to 2.3 million bales of cotton for import till now for the current season (2016/2017). Sowing for the next cotton crop (August 2017/July 2018) in Sindh will start by the end of this month or early next month. However, sowing for the forthcoming cotton crop in Punjab will begin by the middle of April 2017.
On the global economic and financial front, the prime maker and shaker has been Donald Trump since he assumed the presidency of the United States on January 20, 2017. Actually, Trump has shaken up the world on many counts, including imposing a ban on January 27, 2017 on citizens of seven countries viz. Iran, Iraq Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States for a period of ninety days through an executive order. The order will be reconsidered and possibly expanded. On this issue, the federal appeals court in San Francisco refused Trump's effort to immediately remove an earlier ban on his executive order by Judge James Robart of Seattle.
These issues are not only of concern to the United States but also relate to the rights of citizens around the world under the United Nations different declarations considering human rights in globalized world. As a result of this conundrum, thousands of people of different ethnicities around the world protested around the world.
In America itself, reports indicated that early this week several Federal Judges in other states in America such as those including California and New York also ruled against Trump's order. Citizens in America have pointed out not only the rightful role of the Judiciary to check the power of the executive branch of government, but also the freedom of the minority communities.
Be that as it may, observers have pointed out that hundreds and thousands of travellers have been dislocated by the president's ban globally. According to one assessment, travel to America has gone down by 6.5 percent since the ban imposed by president Trump. On his part, President Donald Trump has accused the judges of being political.
It is being contended by some business analysts that ban on travel and movement of people to the United States would damage the American economy at large. Such a ban on travel to America is likely to be counterproductive.
Besides the thousands of protesters who paraded against American President Donald Trump's travel ban on the streets of Washington and New York as reported by the AFP from New York, protesters were also reported to have marched in London and Paris. The marchers also chanted slogans in favour of nationalism, regionalism and against globalization.
Indeed the far-right National front leader Marine Le Pen is reported to have "launched her presidential bid vowing to fight globalization and take France out of the Eurozone". Another presidential election is close by in Italy where Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is pressing for an early election.
Global tensions continue to rise as in the case of America and China after president Donald Trump took a telephone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-woen. President Trump also refers to a "Trade War" between Germany and the U.S. Germany is America's largest trade partner in which Trump believes the trade balance is unproportionally in favour of Germany.
It may be added that a large number of companies in America have benefited from tech savvy immigrants and thus leading businesses in the technology sector do not want any ban on the migrants from the designated seven countries. There is also a fear in the business circles that insurgency is rising in the world which may captivate most of civilized world.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017