India’s cotton exports are expected to decline by 23% to 7.7 million bales in the 2014-15 marketing year starting August, as per report compiled by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). This decline will be constrained by domestic demand and lower production. In the current 2013-14 marketing year, the country is estimated to ship 10 million bales of the natural fibre whereby 8.8 million bales have already been exported. One bale comprises 170 kg of cotton.
India, the world’s second-biggest cotton grower, is again expected to be a regional supplier to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Southeast Asian markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia. The Indian government is likely to monitor the pace of exports in order to conserve supplies for the domestic textile sector and could seek to implement measures to ration exportable supplies.
For 2014-15 marketing year, the country’s total cotton output is pegged lower at 36 million bales as against 37.2 million bales in the current year, due to expected lower crop yields. India exports medium-to-long staple cotton (25-32 mm length) to China, Bangladesh and Southeast Asian countries.
India will likely continue to import extra long staple and quality long staple cotton (28-34 mm), with occasional imports of medium or short staple cotton (below 22 mm), to augment domestic supplies for processing and re-export as high-end textiles. These imports typically occur from August to November, prior to the onset of the Indian harvest.