Price of cotton linter in China expected to rise in Q3 2021: TexPro

The price of cotton linter increased between January 2021 and May 2021, except a slight drop of 4.54 per cent in April 2021 over the price in March 2021, according to the Fibre2Fashion’s market analysis tool TexPro.

In January 2021, seed cotton processing finished in north Xinjiang, hence cottonseed supply remained short. In addition to this, the transport became difficult with less availability of vehicles outside Xinjiang due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second half of January, cottonseed market activity remained low due to the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. Hence, the price of cotton linter rose in the region.

The ginners, cottonseed oil manufacturers and cotton linter processing plants remained closed for the holiday in February 2021, so cotton linter supply was limited, and manufacturers were reluctant to sell as they expected the price to rise. The price of viscose staple fibre increased, and dissolving pulp price kept the upward trend amid tight supply. Therefore, the dissolving pulp was replaced by cotton linter pulp.

The price of cotton linter further soared in March 2021 amid sufficient demand and inflation. But in April 2021, the price of Chinese cotton linter was impacted due to poor relations between China and the EU, Sino-US trade tussle, the escalation of Xinjiang issue and import of low-priced cotton linter.

In May 2021, the price of cotton linter rose due to increasing prices of soybean oil, palm oil and soybean meal futures as cottonseed procurement by cottonseed oil plants increased. Also, the rise of cottonseed price after the Labour Day holiday further supported the cotton linter cost. Cottonseed oil plants are still purchasing Xinjiang-origin cottonseed. Due to an increased market for cottonseed, cotton linter producers are not selling the linters at low prices and holding the stocks to sustain the prices.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)