October 12, 2012

Land space for cotton in Xinjiang, China, is estimated to be 24.7 million square metres in 2012, with output likely to exceed 3.2 million tonnes and account for half of total cotton output in the country.

According to the latest investigation, China started purchasing new cotton in September and acquisition price of Xinjiang cotton declined slightly from a year earlier to around CNY8.5 (US$1.35) per kilogramme, a drop from the corresponding period of 2011.

The National Development and Reform Commission proclaimed on September 10 that it would purchase and store cotton from September 2012 to August 2013. Cotton will be acquired at CNY20,400 (US$3,248) per tonne, a rise from a year earlier. China purchased and stored totally 3.12 million tonnes of cotton in 2011.

Xinjiang is the largest cotton producing area in China. Xinjiang has ranked number one in terms of cotton planting area, per unit area yield, total output and outward transportation volume for 19 straight years in China.