Cotton export to Bangladesh plunges 69 pc in March

Cotton export volume continued to slump, to 5.1 lakh bales (170 kg each) in March as against 12.5 lakh bales ex-ported in the same month of previous marketing year (2017-18). In March, cotton shipment value in US$ term declined by 37% YoY. China was the largest importer of Indian cotton in March, followed by Bangladesh and Pakistan. Vietnam was the fourth largest importer of Indian cotton during the month.

During the first six months of 2018-19 marketing season, cotton shipment aggregated 44.1 lakh bales valued at US$1.45 billion (INR102 billion) as against 56.6 lakh bales exported in the same period of 2017-18, worth US$1.75 billion (INR111 billion).

In March, China’s cotton import from India zoomed to 2.55 lakh bales from just 58 thousand bales last year. But of late it has been showing interest in buying US cotton, as per discussions of 12 April meeting of the Plains Cotton Growers (PCG) Advisory Group. There were positive signals regarding movement of US cotton to China in anticipation of a trade deal between US and China. China normally import high quality cotton, and are interested in lower grades (31 and 41 color grade) at a discounted price. A trade deal will enable these cottons to enter China. However, cotton buyers currently import at a 25% tariff, and the future buying in volumes will depend on how quickly favorable trade deal is finalized.

Cotton export to Pakistan declined to just 33 thousand bales in March this year as against 2.61 lakh bales shipped in previous March. This has been the fallout of a terror attack in mid-February leading to airstrikes by both countries and halting movement of already booked cotton. Pakistan has been one of the major buyers of Indian cotton for long and figured among the top five importers, month on month.

Bangladesh, one of the top two importers of Indian cotton, almost reduced its import from India by two-thirds in March this year, although it remained the second largest during the month. In March 2019, cotton shipment to Bangladesh was 1.23 lakh bales as against 4.08 lakh bales in March 2018. In the 2018-19 marketing season, a total of 14.1 lakh bales were exported to Bangladesh until March 2019, down from 21.5 lakh bales it had imported in same period of 2017-18.

Source: Fibre to Yarn Export Statistics – India report March 2019