Egypt’s cotton exports have been hit by a local hike in prices this year, following a decline in local production brought about by reduced acreage and the lifting of an import ban.
According to a story on Ahram Online, Exports diminished to 17,028 tonnes since the beginning of the marketing season of the cash crop in September 2013, a drop of 45.3 percent compared with the 31,137 tonnes exported in the same period of the previous season.
Cotton exports for September 2013 to January 2014 were worth some $62.1 million according to Mefreh El-Beltagy, head of Egypt’s Alexandria Cotton Exporters’ Association (Alcotexa), compared to around $100 million during the same period of the previous year.
Total exports in the 2012/13 season, which runs from September to August, were worth $215 million, accounting for 22.3 percent of local production, which stood at 300,000 tonnes.
They comprised cotton varieties Giza 86, which accounts for 90 percent of current local production, Giza 92, and Giza 88, with average export price of 194 cent/lb.
But a reduction in acreage has caused a production drop this year, as the harvest yielded only 200,000 tonnes of cotton for this marketing year, driving prices up.
For the full text of the story, click here.