Cotton exports may drop by 2mn bales: CCI

Owing to expectations of lower production of cotton this year, Cotton Council International (CCI) has stated that exports of the commodity from the country may fall by couple of million bales.

According to Sachit Bhatia, representative, Cotton Council International, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while the cotton production last year was around 31 million bales, the exports from India were about 6-7 million bales out of it. "This year we expect cotton production to be low. With the domestic consumption remaining stable, it will result in exports dipping by 4-5 million bales," said Bhatia.

However, Bhatia added that the year will be better for cotton since there will not be any over production.

Talking further about cotton exports, Bhatia said, "The US and EU have still not overcome recession blues and therefore the demand for cotton there is still low. Plus, there are hardly any new markets emerging in cotton exports from India. This will, therefore, result in decline in cotton exports this year."

After a substantial yield last year, cotton productivity will also balance out this year which will lower the production," he said.

So far the demand for cotton in domestic markets have been better. Recently, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Fedration of India Limited (NAFED), a government agency which procures cotton on Minimum Support Prices (MSP), had managed to offload more than 2 lakh bales of cotton in a single week.

The agency had purchased 36 lakh bales (180 lakh quintals) of cotton from across the country.