US cotton trader expands to Australia

Speaking to fibre2fashion, general manager of Omnicotton Australia Pty Ltd, Mr. Cliff White said, “We have opened our first office in Australia since we want to get involved in trade relation with three major cotton exporting countries.”

“One of the reasons for opening an office in Australia is that there are a lot similarities in the cotton produced in the US, Brazil and Australia,” he informs.

The 11-year-old Texas-based company has been mainly trading the US and Brazil cotton so far. It has traded some amount of Argentine cotton. The opening of its new office in Brisbane would help Omnicotton to trade Australian cotton and supply it to China, as well as some other cotton importing Asian countries like Indonesia and Thailand.

Australia exports 99 percent of its cotton crop and 70 percent of it is exported to China.

In the fiscal year 2011-12, Australian cotton growers produced the highest quality upland cotton in the world and 85 percent of the country’s cotton crop met the base grade of ‘middling’ with only 15 percent at grades below middling (middling refers to 31 colour; 3 leaf; 1.13 staple; 3.5 – 4.5 NCL micronaire).

The cotton growers of Australia are likely to produce 4.15 million bales of 217 kg each by the end of this fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2013.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India