Cotton and man-made fibre consumption by textile industry of Pakistan

by Dr. H.R. Sheikh, Professor Emeritus, Textile Institute of Pakistan.

Cotton and man-made fibres consumption ratio is an important indicator of the production pattern of the spinning sectors. This ratio is about 55:45% in the world textile industry. The production pattern of the spinning sector of Pakistan’s textile industry is heavily tilted towards the production of coarse categories of yarns with an overall average count of 20.90 Ne - Just above the limit of 20 Ne for coarse categories. Consequently, it relies heavily on cotton consumption.
Cotton and man-made fibre consumption is reported to be in the ratio of 80:20%. The question which arises is How far this estimate represents the actual situation? The validity of this estimate can be checked by the procedure described below:

Production of yarn

Fibres are consumed during the process of spinning and manufacture of yarn. In case of cotton, the yield of yarn is generally 82% because in Pakistani cottons the non-lint content percentage is generally higher than 7%. Polyester cotton (Pc) and Polyester viscose (Pv) blended yarns are mainly produced in Pakistan.  Generally the ratio of components is usually 65:35 percent in Pc as well as Pv blended yarns. The yield of yarn is 82% in the case of cotton as already mentioned. However, Polyester and viscose are man-made fibres free from impurities. Hence, the yield of yarn in both cases is 94% or higher. The data of production of cotton and blended yarns Pc and Pv is reported below alongwith the consumption of cotton, Polyester and Viscose fibres calculated on the basis of the above mentioned assumptions:

It is obvious from the data reported in the foregoing Table -1 that the consumption ratio of cotton and man-made fibers varied from 83.85:16.15% to 86.69:13.31%. The average ratio works out @ 84.83:15.17 percent which is higher than the generally reported consumption of 80% for cotton and lower than 20% for the man-made fibers respectively.

Table 1: Production of yarn, consumption of cotton, polyester and viscose.  (Million KG MS)
Particulars	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Cotton yarn	1469	1473	1770	2006	2277	2156
Pc yarn	327.25	329.63	367.92	390.50	408.37	490
Pv yarn	128.75	136.37	152.08	159.50	160.63	200
Cotton component in Pc yarn	114.538	115.371	128.772	136.675	142.93	171.50
Polyester component in Pc yarn	212.71	214.26	139.148	253..825	265.44	318.50
Polyester component in Pv yarn	83.688	88.641	98.852	103.675	104.41	130
Viscose component in Pv yarn	45.063	47.73	53.228	55.825	56.22	70
Total cotton consumption  (@ 82% yield)	1931.144	1937.038	2315.576	2613.018	2951.134	2838.415
Total Polyester consumption  @ 94% yield	315.317	322.235	359.575	380.32	393.46	468.83
Consumption of Viscose @ 94% yield	47.94	50.776	56.626	59.388	59.81	74.468
Total consumption of man-made fibres	363.257	373.011	416.201	439.708	453.27	543.298
Total consumption of cotton & Man-Made fibres	2294.4	2310.05	2731.78	3052.73	3404.4	3381.71
Percentage cotton consumption	84.17	83.85	84.76	85.60	86.69	83.93
Percentage man-made fibre consumption	15.83	16.15	15.24	14.40	13.31	16.07
Sources: (1) Federal Bureau of Statistics (2) Textile Commissioner’s Organization (3) All Pakistan Textile Mills Association and (4) Export Promotion Bureau

Non- textile uses of cotton

It must also be pointed out that considerable quantities of cotton are also consumed for non-textile uses. For example in bandages and dressings of wounded persons, filling of pillows, quilts and for packing in addition to the consumption for the manufacture of yarns. This additional consumption of cotton affects the cotton and man-made fibre consumption ratios. which  can be calculated by the following procedure:

Percentage consumption ratios of cotton and man-made fibres on the basis of total cotton consumption including non-textile uses have been calculated and reported in Table-2. It is obvious from the data that cotton man-made fibre consumption ratio was on the average 85.50:14.50 percent during the period 2002-03 to 2007-08. It can therefore be concluded that the generally reported cotton man-made fibre ratio of 80:20 percent was not achieved uptil 2007-2008.

Table 2:Consumption of Cotton including Non-Textile uses and  cotton man-made fibers consumption ratios
Particulars	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Cotton consumption (million bales).	13.95	14.16	15.43	14.90	15	15.88
Cotton consumption (million KGMS) (1bale @ 170 KGM	2371.50	2407.2	2623.10	2533	2550	2699.60
Man-Made fibre consumption (million KGMS).	363.257	373.011	416.201	439.708	453.27	543.295
Total consumption cotton & man-made fibres.	2734.76	2780.21	3009.301	2972.708	3003.27	3242.90
Percentage cotton consumption.	86.72	86.58	86.31	85.21	84.91	83.25
Percentage man-made fibre consumption.	13.28	13.42	13.69	14.79	15.09	16.75

The production pattern of the Spinning Sector of Pakistan remains heavily tilted towards coarse categories of yarn counts. The prospects of achieving cotton man-made fibre consumption ratio of 80:20% are not bright.