• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Gayathri G.

Chennai, Nov. 5 Global cotton consumption in most of the major consuming nations in 2008-09 has been affected by rising production costs, high yarn prices, energy shortages and tightening credit in the world’s spinning industry.

A report by industry analyst Cotlook says: “Even China, the powerhouse that has driven significant expansion in global offtake since the turn of the century, appears to be undergoing a period of retrenchment.”

The impact of lower consumption points to a reduction of stocks that will not be as sharp as initially thought. “We now expect a reduction during the course of the current season of 605,000 tonnes, whereas our previous monthly forecasts suggested a downturn of almost twice that volume,” the Cotlook report explained.

According to a report by Globecot, a global consulting firm for the fibre and textile industries, monthly yarn production in India fell to 325 million kg (mkg) in July 2008, 4.5 per cent lower than the corresponding period last year. Total fabric production in July fell to 4,500 million sq m, a decline of 5.4 per cent, the steepest drop in four-and-a-half years. Increase in cotton prices is also putting pressure on yarn manufacturers.

The Globecot report said production of cotton yarn, which accounts for around 74 per cent of total yarn output (the rest being blended and non-cotton yarn), dropped by 4 per cent to 240 mkg in July 2006 from 250 mkg in the same month a year ago. Even the non-cotton yarn segment saw a steeper decline in July, falling 9.6 per cent from last year to 28,820 tonnes.

This year, the Government has increased the minimum support price of raw cotton to 47 per cent.

More Stories on : Cotton

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line