““Production may rise from 29.1 million bales (170 kg each) in the season starting October 1,” Dhiren N Sheth, president of the Cotton Association of India (CAI), said in a telephone interview. Area planted with the crop may rise about 5% from 9.4 million hectares this year, he said. Increased production may lift stockpiles in the world’s second-biggest shipper of the fibre and build pressure on the South Asian nation to increase exports, likely halting a 24% rally in global cotton prices in the past six months. ..The July-delivery futures declined as much as 1.1% to 54.51 cents a pound in after-hours trading in New York on Monday. Prices fell 3.1% to 55.11 cents a pound on June 5. India’s government raised the floor price of cotton by as much as 48% in September to boost incomes of 10 million farmers. The government, the biggest buyer of grain, purchases rice, wheat, oilseed and cotton at assured prices from farmers to protect growers from distress sales in the open market. ..Farmers have planted cotton across 1.25 million hectares as of June 5, the farm ministry said last week. “Cotton sowing has started in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan,” CAI said in a weekly report. ..“The trend this year looks better and acreage and yield should be on the rise.” ..Stockpiles at the end of September may climb to 6.88 million bales from 4.3 million bales a year earlier, the association said in an email on Monday. Exports this year may be 4 million bales and imports may total 1 million bales, the group said. .
Date:6/9/2009
Source:The Economic Times