March 5, 2012

India's February cotton prices slide 5.85%

Raw cotton prices in India have remained on a downward trend for the month of February, except for a brief spurt on one day of the month.

Cotton prices particularly of the Shankar-6 variety have fallen from INR36,350 (US$729.13) per candy (1 candy = 355 kg) on February 1 to INR34,225 (US$686.51) per candy on February 29, down 5.85%.

Shankar-6 prices had briefly surged to INR37,075 (US$743.68) per candy on February 6, before once again moving southwards.

Infact on February 27, cotton prices had crashed by INR800 (US$16.05) per candy or 2.31% from the previous day to INR33,875 (US$679.49) per candy. However, they recovered by INR300 (US$6.02) per candy the following day.

Low buying activity from Indian textile mills and slowdown in demand from the Chinese market are the main reasons for the fall in prices, aver cotton experts.