50% of cotton crop in Xinjiang province remains unsold

07 Nov '08

2 min read

China has had a very good and bumper cotton crop in the current season, but to the misfortune of farmers nearly half of the crop from China's cotton bowl; Xinjiang province remains unsold. According to statistics of the China Bank of Agriculture Development, it has disbursed nearly US $3.3 billion in credit to firms to buy cotton till now.

But according to the bank, in spite of an increase in funds compared to that of the previous year, only half of the cotton crop or 1.29 million tons have been sold so far. Last year the province had contributed to 33 percent of the cotton or nearly 2.9 million tons produced in the country and has nearly 1.6 million hectares under cotton cultivation.

The subsidies provided to farmers are expected to be higher this year as the government would definitely want to protect the interests of the farmers. Cotton traders are also reluctant to make fresh purchases as their unsold stocks piles are mounting.

Statistics of the National Development and Reform Commission reveal that the cotton price plummeted by Yuan 2,000 per tonne in October from Yuan 13,722 per ton in August. This piquant situation has come about due to drop in demand from down stream manufacturers as the textile industry has felt the maximum impact due to the global meltdown.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - China

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