Cotton exports from India, the world’s second-biggest grower, may double in the crop year starting October as higher domestic prices encouraged farmers to grow the fiber amid a forecast global production shortfall.
Exports may double to 6.5 million bales, each weighing 170 kilograms (375 pounds), from an estimated 3.2 million bales in this crop year, the Cotton Association of India said in a statement on Monday. Global cotton consumption is forecast to increase next year, boosted by a stabilising world economy.
“With the revival of monsoon in most of the regions, the present condition of the cotton crop is extremely good,” the trade body said.
The country’s cotton output may total 31.2 million bales, 6.7 per cent more than the 29.3 million bales forecast for the current crop year, the association said. Planted area may reach a record 10 million hectares, the association added, without giving a comparative figure.
Global cotton use will rise 2.2 per cent to 23.6 million tonnes in the year ending July 31, after plunging 12 per cent in the previous year to 23.1 million tonnes, according to the Washington-based International Cotton Advisory Committee.
World production will fall to 23.3 million tonnes from 23.4 million tonnes as output drops in China, the world’s biggest producer, Central Asia, Brazil, Turkey and Mexico, the group said on September 1. Output will probably increase in India, the US, Pakistan and Australia, the committee said.
The Cotton Association of India’s output estimate compares with the 30.5 million bales forecast on August 31 by the Textile Ministry’s Cotton Advisory Board.
Rainfall this year may be 15 per cent to 20 per cent lower than the 50-year average, making it the weakest monsoon since 2002, Ajit Tyagi, director-general of India Meteorological Department, said on Monday.
