India Cotton Exports to Double
September 10, 2009 Pratik Parija
Cotton exports from India, the world’s second-biggest grower, may double in the crop year starting October as higher domestic prices encouraged farmers to grow the fiber amid a forecast global production shortfall.
Exports may double to 6.5 million bales, each weighing 170 kilograms (375 pounds), from an estimated 3.2 million bales in this crop year, the Cotton Association of India said in an e- mailed statement today. Global cotton consumption is forecast to increase next year, boosted by a stabilizing world economy.
“With the revival of monsoon in most of the regions, the present condition of the cotton crop is extremely good,” the trade body said.
The country’s cotton output may total 31.2 million bales, 6.7 percent more than the 29.3 million bales forecast for the current crop year, the association said. Planted area may reach a record 10 million hectares (24.7 million acres), the association added, without giving a comparative figure.
Global cotton use will rise 2.2 percent to 23.6 million metric tons in the year ending July 31, after plunging 12 percent in the previous year to 23.1 million tons, according to the Washington-based International Cotton Advisory Committee.
World production will fall to 23.3 million tons from 23.4 million tons as output drops in China, the world’s biggest producer, Central Asia, Brazil, Turkey and Mexico, the group said on Sept. 1. Output will probably increase in India, the U.S., Pakistan and Australia, the committee said.
The Cotton Association of India’s output estimate compares with the 30.5 million bales forecast on Aug. 31 by the Textile Ministry’s Cotton Advisory Board.
Rainfall this year may be 15 percent to 20 percent lower than the 50-year average, making it the weakest monsoon since 2002, Ajit Tyagi, director-general of India Meteorological Department, said in a phone interview today. The rainfall deficit stood at 52 percent in June.
GET THE NEWSLETTER TODAY!
