Cotton

headlines:

Cooler temperatures predicted from West Texas to the Memphis Territory (17:32 GMT 26th Feb, 2008)
Cotton futures rebound after early pressure in New York (17:31 GMT 26th Feb, 2008)
Indian prices advance modestly further (11:36 GMT 26th Feb, 2008)
Drier weather welcomed in Australia (9:44 GMT 26th Feb, 2008)
New York futures: spec/hedge report (9:14 GMT 26th Feb, 2008)
China's domestic prices steady; import values strengthen (8:52 GMT 26th Feb, 2008)
China's long staple prices continue to weaken (8:44 GMT 26th Feb, 2008)
ZCE settles softer (7:52 GMT 26th Feb, 2008)
CNCE lost some ground (3:38 GMT 26th Feb, 2008)
Trading mixed on The Seam (23:06 GMT 25th Feb, 2008)
Cotton futures move limit up in New York (20:26 GMT 25th Feb, 2008

Cotton Yarn Price
India Viscose Fiber and Yarn Prices (Statistical Report)
26 February 2008 - Viscose prices strongly rose in the last year in India, resulting in a weaker demand from spinners and filament processors. The long term however looks bright for viscose spun yarn market with demand expected rising when fiber prices will decline, our India Correspondent reports. The filament market could face more difficult days, by contrast.

LATEST RAW COTTON ARRIVALS
(Position as on 23rd (February 2008)
The per day arrivals are reported around 1,60,000 bales.

States 2007-08 2006-07
Quantity in lakh bales of 170 kgs

Punjab 18.60 21.70
Haryana 11.75 12.75
Rajasthan 7.90 7.50
North Total 38.25 41.95
Gujarat 76.50 67.00
Maharashtra 51.75 43.00
Madhya Pradesh 16.75 14.50
Central Total 145.00 124.50
Andhra Pradesh 35.00 26.80
Karnataka 4.75 4.10
Tamil Nadu 1.85 1.90
South Total 41.60 32.80
Others 1.10 1.00
Total 225.95 200.25
Plus Loose lint 9.75 9.75
Grand Total 235.70 210.00

Cotton Balance sheet
The Cotton Balance Sheet for 2007-08 vis-a-vis 2006-07 as drawn by Cotton Advisory Board vide its meeting dt.11-01-2008 as under:
Quantity in lakh bales of 170 kgs each
Item 2007-08 2006-07
SUPPLY
Opening stock 47.50 52.00
Crop size 310.00 280.00
Imports 6.50 5.53
TOTAL AVAILABILITY 364.00 337.53
DEMAND
Mill Consumption 207.00 194.89
Small-Mill consumption 23.00 21.26
Non-Mill Consumption 15.00 15.88
TOTAL CONSUMPTION 245.00 232.03
Exports 65.00 58.00
TOTAL DISAPPEARANCE 310.00 290.03
CARRY FORWARD 54.00 47.50

NYBOT Cotton #2Mar 08 78.00 79.64 76.35 79.64 Feb 26, 13:42 - 2.04 68 77.60 - n/a
May 08 78.81 80.36 77.20 80.00 Feb 26, 13:50 - 1.19 22046 78.81 - n/a
Jul 08 80.37 81.85 78.80 81.50 Feb 26, 13:50 - 1.18 4828 80.32 - n/a
Oct 08 81.68 83.31 81.47 83.31 Feb 26, 13:46 - 0.79 17 82.52 - n/a
Dec 08 84.62 85.70 82.89 85.38 Feb 26, 13:50 - 0.86 4929 84.52 - n/a
Mar 09 86.65 87.98 85.45 87.42 Feb 26, 13:46 - 0.75 99 86.67 - n/a
May 09 87.75 88.74 86.45 88.74 Feb 26, 12:18 - 1.07 36 87.67 - n/a
Jul 09 87.91 89.40 87.20 89.40 Feb 26, 12:18 - 0.73 28 88.67 - n/a
Oct 09 - - - 89.17 * Feb 25, 17:23 - - - 89.17 - n/a
Dec 09 88.51 90.00 87.80 90.00 Feb 26, 13:40 - 0.33 45 89.67 - n/a
Mar 10 - - - 92.10 * Feb 25, 17:23 - - - 92.10 - n/a
May 10 - - - 92.60 * Feb 25, 17:23 - - - 92.60 - n/a
Jul 10 90.81 91.50 90.43 91.50 Feb 26, 12:11 - -1.55 7 93.05 - n/a
Oct 10 - - - 91.50 * Feb 25, 17:23 - - - 91.50 - n/a

Bt cotton doesn’t hike yield: experts
[ICC News Desk 27/02/08]
They trash govt claim crediting it for India’s success story, say gene merely helps keep pests at bay NEW DELHI: Indian agriculture experts have debunked recent claims that Bt cotton has been a boon to Indian farmers. Bt cotton was introduced in India in 2002 and has found favour with the government as well as Cotton Association of India, which attributed increased output this year to higher productivity of Bt cotton. According to the latest International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) report, Bt cotton cultivation has helped India increase its production and become the second largest cotton producer, next to China. It said India, which recorded the fastest growth in genetically modified (GM) crop adoption globally, can attain food self-sufficiency once it allows commercialisation of GM crops. However, Krishan Bir Choudhary, president of Bharatiya Krishak Samaj and former director, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed), junked the claim. “The rainfall was better. Wherever crops receive enough water, production has been good, and not just for cotton. The Bt gene is meant to prevent bollworm pest and does not boost productivity at all,” said Choudhary. A Netherlands-based organisation, Friends of the Earth International (FEI), pointed out that most GM cotton outside US is engineered to contain an insecticide that kills selected insect pests. The insecticide is derived from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), and the seed is thus called Bt cotton. Bt cotton has been heralded in the media as a key factor for the increase of cotton production in Indian agriculture in the past three years, and as an important contribution to the improvement of livelihoods of small farmers in the country,” said FEI. Mentioning problems of poor performance and higher cost of Bt cotton, it cited an article in Nature Biotechnology, which notes that Bt cotton varieties used in India (which were developed for the short US growing season) lose their insecticidal properties late in India’s longer growing season, and that the Bt cotton insecticide is not expressed in 25% of the cotton balls of India’s preferred hybrid cotton varieties. FEI said Bt cotton’s role in Indian agriculture has been greatly exaggerated by industry sources and the monsoon and weather factors are the main factors behind the productivity increase, which has boosted not only cotton production but also that of several other crops. Further, Bt cotton has not contributed to helping most small cotton farmers escape the agrarian crisis that continues to threaten their livelihoods, the FEI said.

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bullish trend in cotton.

CHINA IMPORTS LESS COTTON AT HIGHER COST IN JAN-NOV 2007

BEIJING, Feb 28, 2008 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- China imported 2.14 million tones of cotton in the first 11 months of last year, a decline of 37.2 per cent from the same period of the previous year, sources with the General Administration of Customs said on Wednesday.

But the import price of each tonne of cotton averaged US$1,394.30, up 4.4 per cent. In November alone, the average price rose 11.2 per cent to US$1,507.90 per tonne.

The imports were valued at US$2.98 billion, down 34.4 per cent, reflecting the decline in the imported amount.

The sources attributed the imports decline largely to increasing domestic production and dampened demand from downstream enterprises.

The central government earmarked 500 million yuan (US$70 million) last year as subsidies for farmers to buy improved cotton seeds. The move raised enthusiasm to expand areas sown with cotton and improve growing technology.

China was estimated to yield a record total of 7.22 million tonnes of cotton last year, up 7.3 per cent year on year.

Thanks to improved transport, shipments out of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a major cotton production base, increased 50 per cent from the previous year. This helped ease shortage in coastal regions.

Meanwhile, demand remained lukewarm among textile enterprises, which suffered export earnings decline due partly to lowered tax rebates and appreciation of Chinese currency.

According to the customs sources, of the total cotton imports between January and November 2007, general trade made up for 895,000 tonnes, down 49.7 per cent, and processing trade, 474,000 tonnes, down 15.2 per cent.

Up to 651,000 tonnes was imported by state-owned enterprises, down 55 per cent, 509,000 tonnes by private businesses, down 18.4 per cent, and 465,000 tonnes by foreign-funded companies, down 16.5 per cent.

The United States and India were the major cotton suppliers for China, accounting for 70.6 per cent of China's total cotton imports.

China's cotton output up 1.3%
Beijing. China's cotton output totaled 7.6 million metric tons in 2007, up 1.3% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. Total oilseed output was 24.61 million tons last y...

28/02 11:38 Cotton futures trade soft

28/02 10:57 ICE cotton slides on lack of news

28/02 09:44 Cotton NYBOT May

28/02 08:50 Kapas NCDEX April