Cotton use by mills down 2.4% on lower textile demand

Cotton consumption by domestic mills in 2008-09 (October-September) declined about 2.4 per cent year on year to 19.09 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg), due to a slowdown in domestic and global textile demand, according to the Cotton Association of India.

Mills’ consumption of cotton had been consistently rising in the last few years and peaked at 19.57 million bales in 2007-08, which was a 30 per cent rise over the previous five years, said the association in its house journal Cotton Statistics and News.

The global economic slowdown, coupled with an increase in rise in domestic cotton prices piggybacking high minimum support price offered by the government, had hit cotton demand from the textile industry in 2008-09, it said.

Consumption by small-scale units was also slightly lower during the season at 2.02 million bales compared with 2.21 million bales in 2007-08.