Cottco’s 2023 cotton intake up 48 percent
THE Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco) has said farmers delivered a total of 69 419 tonnes in the 2022/2023 marketing season, representing a 48 percent increase from the 46 748 tonnes delivered over the same period in 2022.
In a trading update for the quarter to January 31, 2024, the company said erratic power supplies in the last quarter of 2023 delayed the completion of ginning.
“To date, 58 326 tonnes (84 percent) of seed cotton have been ginned, with only 1 066 tonnes (2 percent) having been toll ginned in the Lowveld due to the high volumes in that area,” reads the trading update.
The company noted that local and offshore lint customer collections are still underway, with 7 776 metric tonnes of lint in stock.
It added that the ginned seed on hand was 4 642 tonnes while upliftment by seed suppliers and oil expressers was underway, with 475 tonnes of lint having been converted to yarn since 2023.
Cottco said in November 2023, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development (MLAFWRD) announced that inputs from the Presidential Inputs Scheme for Cotton would going forward be distributed by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
Extension services under the MLAFWRD were also assigned to monitor cotton production.
The company said cotton farmers who receive inputs through the Presidential Inputs for Cotton remain contracted to deliver their seed cotton to Cottco.
“As a result of the El Nino conditions, the first effective rains were received in December 2023, and the 181 604 growers have so far established an estimated 128 152 hectares. The late crop will result in an estimated one-month delay in the intake,” reads the update.
During the quarter under review, the company was able to settle US$19,6 million, which is 83 percent and $7,2 billion, or 18 percent of the farmer payments dues in the respective currencies, with outstanding dues expected to be cleared from product receipts by March 31, 2024.
The company said that following the promulgation of Statutory Instrument 156 of 2023, the Government's 37,1 percent shareholding in Cottco Holdings Limited, previously held in the name of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, is now held through the Mutapa Investment Fund.