Page 9 · Business

Cotton Exchange still sealed despite court verdict

KARACHI: The Karachi Cotton Association has expressed deep concern over the Evacuee Trust Property Board’s reluctance to implement Sindh High Court orders regarding the Cotton Exchange Building, which has been sealed by the ETPB since December 12, 2025.

The SHC had declared on June 18 that ‘.......the KCAshallenjoythepossession of property and continue its business activities without any disturbance’.

However, the verdict remains unimplemented,as the seven-month closure of the Building and the ‘unlawful’ seizure of the documents and computers have completely halted the KCA’s administrative operations and paralysed the businesses of its legal tenants, including key cotton traders, ginners, spinners, and exporters.

This ongoing disruption has inflicted severe financial losses on KCA and individual stakeholders, and caused significant damage to the national economy, KCA Secretary-General Aftab Ahmed observed in a statement on Monday.

Since 1933, the KCA has held a unique position indomestic agricultural and tradeinfrastructure.

Unlike standard trade bodies, the KCA performs vital regulatory and operational functions, including market regulation through the official daily spot rates of cotton, dispute resolution by providing essential arbitration facilities for buyers and sellers, quality assurance through cotton sample testing facilities for stakeholders, capacity building through technical training courses to support the cotton trade and textile value chain, and various other vital functions related to the domestic cotton value-chain.