News: India's cotton output expected to hit 18-year low

 

India's cotton exports will fall to an 18-year low in 2022/23 as domestic production lags consumption for the second year in a row, a trade body said on Thursday.

Lower exports from the top cotton producer are likely to support global prices. It could also push up domestic prices and weigh on profit margins at local textile mills.

 

The Cotton Association of India (CAI) said in a statement that cotton exports could fall to 2 million bales in the current marketing year ending Sept. 30, the lowest since 2004/05 and well below last year's 4.3 million bales. .

 

CAI said production could fall to 29.84 million bales, down from an earlier estimate of 30.3 million bales.

 

Domestic consumption in India may also have fallen 2.2 percent from a year earlier to 31.1 million bales, the agency said.

 

The trade body said the drop in local production could bring cotton ending stocks down to 1.4 million bales in 2022/23, the lowest in more than 30 years.