U.S. Cotton Gets Favorable Look by South Indian Textile Spinners
January 17, 2022 Cotton from the High Plains of Texas is getting attention in South India.
The cotton price situation is creating a lot of anxiety in the global textile sector, particularly in India which is a large textile producing country. High cotton prices are being carefully watched, as it is having ripple effects across economy and employment.
Interestingly, cotton from the High Plains of Texas is getting favorable consideration by South Indian textile spinners.
India’s spinning industry is heavily concentrated in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, and the textile industry is situated in Coimbatore, Erode, and Thiruppur regions. Additionally, mills are situated in cotton growing areas in the Virudhunagar districts.
High prices, coupled with lack of consistent quality, have caused spinning industries to look for alternatives to Indian cotton. Indian spinning associations have been pleading the government to waiver the 10% import duty on cotton.
During a phone conversation, Velmurugan Shanmugam, General Manager of Jayalakshmi Textiles in Aruppukkottai, revealed that they are seriously looking at High Plains cotton in their raw material mix. Another large mill has also apparently booked an order of about 1,000 tons of U.S. cotton.
According to Velmurugan, Jayalakshmi Textiles have booked 300 tons of High Plains cotton, with the consignment expected to arrive in 3-4 months. By that time, he hopes the government will make a favorable decision on the import duty on cotton.
Many textile spinners are also exploring imported cotton. Indian spinners like Jayalakshmi Textiles have been using small quantities of Giza cotton for high quality yarns of 100-120s Ne. The company spins fine count yarns catering to sheeting and saree materials.
While the landed price, including the import tax, of imported cotton may be slightly higher than the price of domestic cotton, mills in India are also paying attention to its quality and consistency.
The Indian cotton sector should pay attention to quality and delivery consistency and enable farmers to achieve high quality standards.
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