Raw cotton prices which had been more or less stable in December rose 5.78 percent in the middle of January from those prevailing in the first week of the same month, before slipping again by yesterday.
Shankar-6 raw cotton prices which stood at Rs 35,425 per candy (1 candy = 355 kg) on January 1, increased to Rs 37,475 per candy on January 17, up 5.78 percent.
However, yesterday it has slipped down by 3.33 percent from prices prevailing on January 17 and is now quoted at Rs 36,225 per candy. Still, they are still higher than those quoted in the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile in its last estimate, the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) revised cotton output estimates downwards to 34.5 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) from the 35.6 million bales estimated earlier, mainly due to damage to crops in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
CAB has also revised and hiked its domestic consumption estimate for the current cotton year from 21 million bales to 21.6 million bales.
Click here to view and download January cotton price trends.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India