Pakistan’s cotton arrivals at ginning factories reached 3,208,402 bales by September 30, 2026, up 5.39 percent from 3,044,409 bales at the same point in 2025, according to Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) data reported by Business Recorder.

An Origin Pakistan calculation using the reported 2026 total and PCGA’s published 2025 figure puts the year-on-year increase at 163,993 bales. These are cumulative arrivals at ginning factories, rather than a final estimate of national cotton production.

Punjab arrivals and PCGA’s Sindh–Balochistan grouping

The reported data puts Punjab’s arrivals at 1,214,951 bales, up 6.91 percent from 1,136,439 a year earlier. PCGA’s reported “Total Sindh” grouping stood at 1,993,451 bales, compared with 1,907,970 in the previous year.

The grouping needs careful reading. In its published report for September 30, 2025, PCGA lists Balochistan within the table contributing to its Total Sindh figure. Balochistan’s arrivals should therefore not be added again to that regional total when calculating national arrivals.

Balochistan’s 2026 arrivals were reported at 152,763 bales, compared with 112,900 in PCGA’s published 2025 report. An Origin Pakistan calculation using those figures shows an increase of 39,863 bales, or 35.31 percent.

The latest fortnight’s arrivals were reported to be lower

Although cumulative arrivals remained ahead of last year, The News reported, citing the same underlying PCGA data, that the latest fortnight’s flow was about 0.819 million bales, down from 1.04 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Business Recorder, citing PCGA data, reported 459 operating ginning factories, compared with 501 in PCGA’s 2025 report. That represents 42 fewer factories, a decline of 8.38 percent by Origin Pakistan’s calculation.

The cumulative increase and the lower fortnightly flow describe different measures: the first compares total arrivals so far, while the second compares arrivals during one fortnight. Neither establishes the season’s final production, yield or lint quality.

The September 30, 2026 statement was not listed in PCGA’s public arrival-report archive when checked for this article. The current-season figures are therefore attributed to reporting of PCGA data, while the published 2025 statement provides the primary-source comparison.

For related economic context, read Origin Pakistan’s coverage of the State Bank’s policy-rate decision.