Sluggish demand pushes cotton prices down in India

Cotton markets in India continued to reel under demand pressure. Weak demand from mills remained sluggish pushing cotton prices down by about 3% or INR1,000 per candy of 355 kg over the week. According to reports, prices also declined due to poor export demand. Cotton exports in December were good but reversed in January, giving back the fibre to domestic mills. Traders believe that prices will decline further by another INR500 a candy in coming weeks.

Cotton was ruling at INR33,200-33,500 per candy as against INR34,500 a week ago. Kapas prices too fell 6% to INR880-920 per 20 kg during the week.

International cotton futures also tumbled to a one-year low due to sluggish demand that had adverse impact on domestic demand and thus, prices declined. Furthermore, mills were seen buying only as per their needs which will pressurize cotton price more in coming days.

In New York, cotton for March delivery dropped 2.3% hitting US cents 58.25 per pound, the weakest level for a spot contract since January last year. Expectations of weak demand in China led to the downfall in global market.

In India, cotton production is pegged at around 33 million bales for the October 2015-September 2016 crop by Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) as against 38 million bales last year. According to government estimates, India is likely to harvest 35.2 million bales in the 2015-16 season, down 3.6% from its previous estimate.