February 1, 2012

India's cotton arrivals fall 14.1%

India's cotton arrivals from the new crop have dropped 14.1%, the Cotton Corporation of India said Tuesday (Jan 31), with most farmers in a key producing state holding back stocks on speculations the government will lift support prices.

Cotton arrivals since the season began on October 1 to Jan. 29 fell to 16.62 million bales of 170 kg each, the state-run procurement agency said, down from 19.35 million bales a year earlier.

Farmers in the western state of Maharashtra, the country's second largest producer, are hoping the government will step in to support prices after they almost halved since last March while costs of seeds, fertilisers and fuel rose.