Cotton Gins Refuse to Receive Raw Cotton
Sudan Events – Rehab Abdullah
Cotton gins have refused to receive raw cotton (unpackaged cotton pressed in burlap sacks) from producers since yesterday Thursday.
Farmers told “Sudan Events” that the refusal came based on a decision issued by the Civil Defense, prohibiting the receipt of “raw” cotton from November 9, 2023. They criticized the move in that packing cotton in burlap rounds costs the farmer about 6,000 SDGs for the packing process in addition to the price of a burlap sack which is worth 4,000 SDGs. Farmers considered it expensive, leading to new impoverishment of farms and a new increase in the cost of production.
However, the owner of a gin, who preferred to withhold his name, stressed that the issue is related to safety in the event of a fire in cotton, so that when it is in sacks the fire can be controlled, in addition to that, sacks help in organizing the gin by opening the lines when the import increases and ginning takes place after a while. Moreover, sacks maintain quality from impurities and dust.
On the other hand, some producers suggested that the gin bear the additional expenses, “the value of the burlap and the press,” by immediately increasing the price of a quintal so that the product would not be harmed.
