Cotton exports surge in Oct-Jan; cross halfway mark on lower prices

摘要

Riding high on the cost advantage in the international market, India has already exported about 29 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) of cotton by the end of January 2021, data shared by the Cotton Association of India (CAI) showed. Nearly 60 per cent of the country's total projected cotton shipments were executed during the first four months of the 2020-21 season, the data showed. The apex cotton trade body has projected India's exports of the fibre to be around 54 lakh bales for the season 2020-21 (October to September). This was higher by about 4 lakh bales from the previous year 2019-20. "Export shipments of cotton estimated by the CAI up to January 31, 2021 is 29 lakh bales. The CAI has estimated cotton exports for the season at 54 lakh bales," informed Atul Ganatra, President, CAI, in the trade body's January crop estimate released on February 8, 2021. Notably, the data shows that in the initial four months of the season October 2020 to January 2021, cotton exports have touched highest in past three years. During the comparable period in 2018-19, cotton exports were reported at 24 lakh bales and in 2019-20 it was at 20 lakh bales.