Cotton import quotas may be increased in 2009

12 Aug '09

2 min read

According to information available from the Chinese textile industry, the government is contemplating importing cotton by raising quotas on the same.

This is being done, due to the fact that despite releasing cotton from the state reserves, the shortage of cotton in the open markets continues.

Since China is the biggest consumer of cotton in the world, this step may help boost global cotton prices in the long run.

The country had issued cotton import licenses for 894,000 tons of cotton at the beginning of the year and a further 400,000 tons only to textile export companies.

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, imports fell by nearly 40 percent in the first six months of the year.

The government has been able to auction about 1.16 million tons of cotton against the planned 1.52 million tons since the auctioning began in late May.

To help the cotton farmers, the state had purchased 2.7 million tons in the previous cotton year in a bid to stall falling prices of the white gold.

According to estimates made by the Cotton Association, production of cotton is expected to dip in the new cotton year to 7.5 million tons from 7.8 million tons last year.

The low inventory levels of cotton with processing enterprises have become a matter of concern for one and all, including the government.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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