January 18, 2012

China's cotton planting area in 2012 is expected to fall 10.5% from last year because of reduced profits, the China Cotton Association said Tuesday (Jan 17).

Cotton acreage is estimated to decline to 5.2 million hectares or 78 million mu this year, as a fall in cotton prices and growing input costs have damped interest among farmers, the association said.

Local cotton prices are mostly supported by government purchases, which totalled 2.47 million tonnes as of Monday from September.

It said farmers were uncertain about future pricing, and the actual area would be subject to changes along with the government's new purchase price policy and cotton prices after the Lunar New Year.

Cotton planting in China usually starts from April.