Cotton

Cotton lint unmoved in north India
7 Jul 2008 4:53 pm
Abohar - Cotton lint prices failed to witness change in the previous level at major markets across north India Monday. The government today again made it clear that it was not considering imposing ban on cotton exports.

Meanwhile, cotton area continues to lag behind the year ago period due to the diversion of some areas to other more remunerative crops and inadequate water in the irrigated tracts of northern India. During June 1-July 4, cotton was sown on 18 lakh hectares, down from 20 lakh hectares a year ago, according to latest data released by the Agriculture Ministry Friday.

Across Punjab, cotton lint traded at Rs 2,850-Rs 2,880/maund at Fazilka, Kotakpura, Muktasar and Bathinda; Rs 2,850-Rs 2,880/maund at Malot and Gidarbha; Rs 2,850-Rs 2,880/maund at Abohar; Rs 2,850-Rs 2,880/maund at Manasa; and at Rs 2,850-Rs 2,880/maund at Rampura, Barnala and Budhaldha.

Cotton lint traded at Rs 2,850-Rs 2,875/maund in Haryana and at Rs 2,650-Rs 2,735/maund in Rajasthan.

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Cotton lint steady in west India
7 Jul 2008 4:51 pm

Mumbai - Cotton lint prices remained steady at major markets across western India Monday. The government today again made it clear that it was not considering imposing ban on cotton exports.

Meanwhile, cotton area continues to lag behind the year ago period due to the diversion of some areas to other more remunerative crops and inadequate water in the irrigated tracts of northern India. During June 1-July 4, cotton was sown on 18 lakh hectares, down from 20 lakh hectares a year ago, according to latest data released by the Agriculture Ministry Friday.

At Kadi market in Gujarat, cotton lint S-6 A-grade was quoted at Rs 27,300-Rs 27,600/candy while average-grade traded at Rs 26,400-Rs 26,800/candy.

At Sendhwa market in Madhya Pradesh, the 28-mm cotton lint traded at Rs 27,500-Rs 27,800/candy; 29-mm cotton lint traded at Rs 28,000-Rs 28,500/candy; and 30 mm cotton lint at Rs 29,000/candy

Cotton gets record high price in Vidarbha

Akola, July 07: Cotton prices in Vidarbha region are record high this season with traders offering Rs 3600 per quintal, said the secretary of traders association, Santosh Zunzunwala.

Those farmers who had stocked the cotton harvest of previous year are cashing in on this opportunity.

Zunzunwala attributed high prices to the increasing demand of cotton in foreign trade due to its better quality.

Otherwise the normal price of cotton is Rs 2200 per quintal generally given to farmers.

The traders in Vidarbha are in search of farmers who yet have stocks of cotton crop of last season in their houses, he said.

Contrary to this, the sowing of cotton seeds has been reduced to certain extent and the ginning industry would face sever crisis due to less production of cotton.

NCDEX to launch coffee, cashew, cotton contracts: Exec
7 Jul 2008 2:48 pm

Singapore - The National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) is considering the launch of futures in coffee, cashew and cotton to diversify its current portfolio, and aims to widen its reach within India before venturing overseas, said a senior executive at an industry conference Monday.

"We're looking at commodities which are unlikely to be targets of government action - mainly those which India has surplus production of - such as coffee, cotton and cashew," said Unupom Kausik, NCDEX chief business officer.

In May this year, India banned futures trading in soyoil, rubber, potatoes and the legume known as chana in an attempt to stem inflation.

The four commodities together account for trading volume worth nearly Rs 150 billion (USD3.5 billion) every month out of the total volume estimated at Rs 1,640 billion, according to figures from the Forward Markets Commission. Trading of these contracts is expected to resume in September, said Kausik.

While another major Indian commodities exchange, the Multi Commodity Exchange of India, is expanding rapidly overseas, Kausik said the NCDEX's first priority is to "widen and deepen" its reach within India to make itself "attractive for global participants."

"We have started looking at strategic initiatives but there is no specific profile to those decisions," said Kausik.

The Intercontinental Exchange bought an 8% stake in NCDEX last year.

State spinning mills witness downswing
6 Jul 2008, 0416 hrs IST,

BATHINDA: A year after many big and small textile mills in Punjab added over five lakh new spindles in their spinning mills due to boom in the cotton industry and introduction of quota-free regime in the textile industry in the past two years, the current season is seeing a downturn in the textile industry in the state. Thanks to shortage of raw material, expensive labour and long-power cuts, over 3 lakh of the total 25 lakh spindles in the textile and spinning mills in Punjab are lying unused this season, sources in the textile industry revealed. Buoyed by the high demand of yarn in the textile industry, last year even small-time spinning millers in Punjab added to their spindle capacity. But this year they were repenting the decision as the spindles were not being used to their full capacity.

A senior functionary at the Vardhman textile industries in Ludhiana revealed that earlier the spindles were being used round the clock in three continuous shifts, each of eight hours, but now even some big textile mills were running the spindles for only two shifts.

While the soaring lint cotton prices in the domestic market is one of the reasons for the spindles not getting enough raw material, the unscheduled power cuts and labour shortage is hitting the textile industry hard, said Tarsem Lal, a spinning mill owner in Kotkapura. He had installed 3,000 new spindles last year. Last year witnessed many spinning and ginning factory owners installing new spindles in Samana, Malerkotla, Maur Mandi, Kotkapura, Gidderbaha, Malout and Muktsar towns.

Of the total 3.90 crore spindles in the country, the maximum spindles (about 47%) were installed in Tamil Nadu, KV Srinivasan, chairman, Southern India Mills Association, said. As over 85 lakh spindles were lying useless in the country this year, so Tamil Nadu was worst hit, he said. Blaming the Union government for high export of cotton this year (the cotton export has already reached 1.6 crore bales this season against 58 lakh bales last year), the millers said end stock of the country was estimated to fall to 43 lakh bales this year, against 47.5 lakh bales last year.

The stock to use ratio of cotton in the country has gone down to 18% this year as compared to global level of 45%, told Srinivasan. China and Pakistan, our main competitors in textile and garments, were maintaining the stock to use ratio at around 34%, he added.

This low stock to use ratio is the main reason for the high lint cotton prices in the country. The prices hovered around Rs 2,900 per mand in the first week of July as compared to Rs 2,250 per mand last year in the corresponding period, said Kundan Singh, a spinning mill owner. Instead of promoting import of raw material, the government should encourage products like yarn and garments for value addition.

Mili bug hits cotton crop in Sirsa

Sirsa, Jul 04, 2008 (Asia Pulse ) -- The cotton and vegetable growers of Sirsa district are worried as their crops have been attacked by the deadly Mili bug which is spreading fast and destroying the crops badly.

According to official sources, the cotton is grown on 1,40,000 hectares in the district during this Rabi Season and on 87 per cent of the total area, the farmers opted for BT cotton variety and on the rest 13 per cent, desi cotton and other varieties have been grown.

The local Cotton Research Station Cotton scientist M S Bhattoo has said the worst hit areas in the district are the cotton belts in Nathusari Chopta and Kalanwali blocks.

He advised the farmers that with the judicious use of pesticides like 'Ekalux' and Perfano Phos, the Mili bug attack could be controlled.

He also advised that all weeds especially the Congress Grass around the cotton fields, along the Water courses and paths etc should be destroyed completely as it acts as a vector for the Mili bug which thrives and multiplies upon it.

The pest has also attacked the 'Bhindi' crop in a big way. District Horticultural Office Atam Prakash said about 20 of the Bhindi crop has been affected by the attack of the Mili bug.

He advised the vegetable growers to avoid injudicious and indiscriminate use of pesticides upon the vegetable crops and asked to act according to the advice of the scientists.

Mills and exporters active buyers on cotton market

KARACHI (July 08 2008): Further improvement was seen on the cotton market on Monday as mills and exporters were active to make forward buying, dealers said. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 3650, they said. Phutti prices in Punjab were Rs 1600-1700 and in Sindh at Rs 1700-1800, they added.

According to the market sources, due to delay in rains, the quality of cotton will show improvement and production will also increase this year. Exporters were buying cotton at the prevailing rates on expectations of better return due to dollar's appreciation in the local market, they said.

Dollar's rate are going up and this factor is rising expectations that the exporters would draw benefits in the near future, but one factor is there as to how the mills will tackle the emerging crisis in the textile sector, analysts said.

The rise in oil prices globally and weak fundamentals locally, dragged the rupee down versus dollar, the rupee touched the new record low for the second time since the fiscal year 2008-09 started, they observed. The following deals reported : some 1200 bales of cotton ftom Burewala sold at Rs 3750, 200 bales from Haroonabad, 400 bales from Pakpattan, same figure from Arifwala, 200 bales from Chichawatni, same number from Mian Channu and 400 bales from Sahiwal changed hands at the same rate, dealers said.

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The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pak Rupees
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FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/32"
MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL
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Rate Ex-Gin Upcountry Spot Rate Ex-Karachi
for Price Sales Tax @ 15%
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37.32 Kgs 3,650.00 50 3,700.00
Equivalent-------------------------------------------------
40 Kgs 3,912.00 50 3,962.00
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New York cotton futures tumble

NEW YORK (July 08 2008): Cotton futures reeled from a commodity-wide selling spree to end sharply lower on Monday and the prospect for recovery will depend on whether investment funds are finished dumping commodities, brokers said. The market was shut Friday for a holiday. The key December cotton contract fell 2.59 cents to finish at 72.76 cents per lb, dealing from 72.35 to 75.70 cents.

Volume in December stood at 15,148 lots at 2:43 pm EDT (1843 GMT). "Everything's interconnected today. There's nothing standing on its own feet," said Mike Stevens, an analyst for brokers SFS Futures in Mandeville, Louisiana. Fibre contracts were hit by a steady barrage of investment fund sales, pressured by a profit-taking spree that deflated markets from oil to metals to grains.

Traders said cotton was heavily oversold, but that would not matter, if the funds decide to dump commodities anew on Tuesday and the rest of the week. "This has nothing to do with the fundamentals of cotton. It has everything to do with the fact that investors felt it was time to lighten their holdings. So down it went," a dealer said.

Market sources said there may be a pause in the selling in front of a pair of government reports due out at the end of the week. The reports are the US Agriculture Department's weekly export sales data and the monthly supply/demand report. Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp sees support in the December contract at 72.50 cents, with resistance at 73.60 cents. Volume traded Thursday hit 10,717 lots, exchange data showed. Open interest in the cotton market rose 2,203 lots to 219,065 lots as of July 3, exchange data showed.

Cotton lint descends in north India
8 Jul 2008 3:53 pm

Abohar - Cotton lint prices declined marginally amid re-selling by exporters at major markets across north India Tuesday.

Across Punjab, cotton lint traded at Rs 2,830/maund at Fazilka, Kotakpura, Muktasar and Bathinda; Rs 2,810-Rs 2,815/maund at Malot and Gidarbha; Rs 2,800-Rs 2,810/maund at Abohar; Rs 2,800/maund at Manasa; and at Rs 2,830-Rs 2,835/maund at Rampura, Barnala and Budhaldha.

Cotton lint traded at Rs 2,780-Rs 2,800/maund in Haryana and at Rs 2,670-Rs 2,720/maund in Rajasthan.

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Cotton lint unchanged in west India
8 Jul 2008 3:50 pm

Mumbai - Cotton lint prices remained firm at major markets across western India Tuesday.

At Kadi market in Gujarat, cotton lint S-6 A-grade was quoted at Rs 27,300-Rs 27,600/candy while average-grade traded at Rs 26,400-Rs 26,800/candy.

At Sendhwa market in Madhya Pradesh, the 28-mm cotton lint traded at Rs 27,500-Rs 27,800/candy; 29-mm cotton lint traded at Rs 28,000-Rs 28,500/candy; and 30 mm cotton lint at Rs 29,000/candy

New York cotton settles lower

NEW YORK (July 09 2008): Cotton futures finished lower on Tuesday on late investor sales and analysts feel the market may be able to stabilise in front of a pair of government reports due out at the end of the week, brokers said. The key December cotton contract shed 1.02 cents to finish at 71.74 cents per lb, dealing from 70.86 to 75.33 cents.

Volume traded in the December contract stood at 22,775 lots at 2:41 pm EDT (1841 GMT). Sharon Johnson, cotton expert for First Capitol Group in Atlanta, Georgia, said cotton gyrated wildly throughout the session with some trade and mill-type buying lifting the market from its lows for the day.

The market suffered from early pressure and spillover sales from the grains markets, but cotton began recovering "once the selling pressure abated from corn and beans," she said. Traders said cotton is massively oversold, but investment funds pay little heed to that prospect and could go right on selling fiber contracts.

Market sources said cotton contracts may begin to consolidate before reports from the US Agriculture Department due out on Thursday and Friday. The first report on Thursday would be the USDA's weekly export sales report. The next would be the USDA's monthly supply/demand report on Friday.

Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp sees support in the December contract at 71.65 and 70.50 cents, with resistance at 72.50 and 73.60 cents. Volume traded Monday hit 19,877 lots, exchange data showed. Open interest fell 37 lots to 219,028 lots as of July 7, exchange data showed.

Minfal meeting to evolve strategy to protect cotton crop

ISLAMABAD (July 09 2008): The Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) has called an emergency meeting to formulate a strategy to protect cotton crop from lethal virus of mealy bug, which is threatening the production target of 14.1 million bales for the year, it was learnt on Tuesday.

Sources told Business Recorder that officials of federal and provincial food and agriculture ministries would discuss different options available against mealy bug, including biological control the problem through use of predators.

According to the sources, senior officials of the federal and provincial government will attend the meeting to be held in Lahore on Wednesday (today). The cotton crop has heavily been affected by attacks from mealy bug during the last three years. The total damage by the mealy bug was roughly about 11 percent only in last year.

Thus the total cotton production for 2007-08 was 11.7 million bales, 17 percent short of set target of 14.1 million bales. The production was relatively low even from previous year with growers suffering huge losses both in yield and quality.

Sources said the recent survey conducted by the Center of Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) revealed that huge area was already affected by the mealy bug and the emergency meeting was convened to look for means to address the problem. This would be the second meeting between federal and provincial officials of agriculture ministries as the first one was held on June 12 at Lahore.

A detailed presentation would be given by the Minfal officials about the measures required to be taken against mealy bug. A Minfal official said the government was already importing mineral oil from the USA for spraying on the crops to ensure 14.11 million bales target for 2008-09 over an area of 3.2 million hectares.

For the biological control of the mealy bug, the predators were imported from the USA. About 12,000 predators are available and their multiplication is underway to get rid of the menace permanently.

A meeting on cotton production strategy decided last month that to control mealy bug these predators would be conserved on an area of 5,000 acres in 29 selected districts of Sindh.

The Minfal official said that multiplication of these predators was in the process in different labs, including Center for Cotton Research Institute (CCRI), Multan, and other parts of the country