Bathinda, November 11
After almost a decade of poor production and heavy losses, the prospects of the cotton crop in the Fazilka-Abohar-Bathinda cotton belt are looking up, with traders bagging export orders for the first time in nearly a decade and the price of Indian cotton shooting up in the international market.
Terming the development as a significant reversal in the cotton business trend, the President of Northern India Cotton Association, Mr Ashok Kapoor, said: “It is after about 10 years that we are exporting cotton.”
Cotton growers in this region are no doubt buoyant over the high cotton yield this year vis-a-vis the preceding years. “During the past few years, cotton production was at a low and we were importing cotton. The yield was insufficient for our own industrial consumption,” Mr Kapoor said.
The projection for cotton yield in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan this season is pegged at 30 lakh bales, which is almost double the yield last year. Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that Punjab expects about 17 lakh bales to arrive in the market this year, which is equal to the combined yield of all three states last year. Punjab had produced 8.5 lakh bales last year.
Also to be noted is the increase of prices of Indian cotton in the international market. The price of Indian cotton, which was 67 cents per pound in New York Future, the international cotton market in the United States, last year, has risen to 82 cents per pound this year.
The domestic rates are at present stated to be Rs 2,650 per quintal, with speculation in the market that these could go up to Rs 2,800 per quintal. The maximum price was Rs 2,000 per quintal last year. “Changes in the international market have instant and strong repercussions in the Indian market,” a cotton trader said.
Informed sources in the cotton industry say the increase in the cotton prices this year is due to the produce being exported.
Though there is no ready data available to quantify the level of export, industry insiders say that orders amounting to 1.5 lakh bales had been received till last week. Export orders have come in from the USA, Thailand, Indonesia and even Pakistan and China, which have been traditional cotton producing competitors.
“There is no government agency monitoring the exports. The export market is open and deals and export orders are being handled by traders individually,” a functionary with the Cotton Corporation of India said.
A major reason cited for Indian exports, besides the good yield is that cotton crop has fared poorly in Pakistan and China, which are major producers of cotton. In Pakistan, industry sources say, about 75 per cent of the cotton crop has been affected while in China, 25 per cent crop is stated to be a total loss.
Also cotton growers in North India have surged ahead because cotton in this part arrives in the market earlier than in the rest of the cotton-growing areas such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
