According to D.K. Nair, secretary general of
the Confederation of Indian Textiles Industry (CITI), output in the year
started on October 1 may be 29.5 million to 30 million bales of 170
kilograms each, compared with 32.5 million bales estimated by the Cotton
Advisory Board…”There’s a near-consensus that the crop will be
below 30 million bales this year after the unseasonal rains and floods
in some areas,” Nair said. “A lower crop should prompt a review of the
surplus availability and the export strategy.”..A lower crop may
prompt India to retain restrictions on exports, bolstering global prices
that have rallied 72 percent this year. Cotton reached $1.5195 on
November 10, the highest price since trading began 140 years ago, as
adverse weather damaged crops in China, Pakistan and the US…India’s
textiles ministry on October 11 halted registration of new export
contracts after it got applications to ship 5.5 million bales, the
maximum permissible this year. Louis Dreyfus Commodities, the top trader
of cotton, and Cargill Inc. are among companies that won permits…Meanwhile,
there may not be more than 3 million bales available for export as
rains last month in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the biggest
growers, damaged crops, Nair said. Shipments may total 2.5 million
bales, less than 5.24 million bales permitted by the Textiles Ministry
for export by December 15, Nair said…The South Asian nation, a
major supplier of cotton to China, will cap shipments of yarn at 720,000
metric tons in the year started on October 1 to bolster domestic
supplies, the government said last week…”There has to be some
predictability about government policy related to cotton,” Nair said.
“Any review of export policy should be based on actual crop size,” he
added.
Date:12/13/2010
Source:www.ecotextile.com