“As the media reports in
Bangladesh quoted Commerce Minister Faruk Khan as saying, “We’ll demand a
separate quota for raw cotton during the bilateral trade talks with
India,” the demand will create ripples of debate over the cotton export
ban in India. ..Khan is on a visit to India with a 23-member business delegation. ..In
the international markets, cotton prices have touched the historical
highs of USD 1.19 per pound this month. Bangladesh and China are the two
countries that depend on cotton imports for their textile industries. ..As
India has capped its cotton exports so as to safeguard the domestic
textile industry, the global supplies are found to be in trouble. The
crop in Pakistan, which is the fourth largest producer in the world, is
also damaged due to heavy floods in the region. ..India has so far allowed export of 5.5 million bales (a bale = 170 kg) of cotton by 15th December. ..Khan
is reported to initiate talks with his Indian counterparts ‘to settle
the cotton supply issue with India so that the country remains ‘immune’
to any Indian ban on the commodity’s export,’ media reports noted. ..Back
home in India, the steep hike in the cotton prices has left the garment
makers in jitters. The prices of the key raw material have spiraled to
close to double against last year. ..Further, the country has very
low inventories this year creating panic over the surplus stocks, while
floods in Pakistan has raised concerns over the international supplies
and the delayed arrival of domestic crop due to heavy rains in the
cotton growing regions has added to the woes of the cotton consumer
industries. ”

Date:10/25/2010

Source:1click.indiatimes.com