India exports 20 lakh cotton bales until February

India’s cotton export in February, the fifth and last peak month of the 2023-24 marketing season, was 937 thousand bales worth INR2,497 crore or US$303 million. Total exports during the first five months of 2023-24 marketing season was 19.83 lakh bales worth US$5,417 crore or US$657 million.

During February, Bangladesh was the single largest importer of Indian cotton, followed by China, Vietnam, UAE and Indonesia. Bangladesh imported 3.48 lakh bales during the month at an average price of US cents 93 per pound.

China, astonishingly, imported 3.84 lakh bales during the month. China has apparently ramped up imports since the beginning of the current marketing season and has imported close to 6 lakh bales values at US$188 million. In 2022-23 season, it had imported just 3 lakh bales of cotton from India for US$123 million.

Export price (FOB) realisation for cotton averaged INR157 a kg or US cents 86.41 per pound in February. This was much lower than Cotlook A index, the global spot price benchmark and slightly lower than the spot prices for benchmark Gujarat Shankar-6. During the month, Cotlook averaged US cents 102 per pound while Shankar-6 averaged US cents 90 per pound.

Source: Fibre to Yarn Export Statistics – India