July 6, 2012

China's price gap rises between local, imported cotton

The price gap between domestic and imported cotton in China has been increasing, industrial bodies and analysts said Tuesday (July 3).

"The price difference between domestic and imported cotton is normally RMB1,000 (US$157) per tonne but the gap has widened to an unprecedented level of more than RMB5,000 (US$786) now, putting pressure on local textile mills and garment industry," Wang Qianjin, a senior analyst from webtex.com, an information provider for the textile sector, told the Global Times Tuesday.

The average price of domestic cotton was RMB19,525 (US$3,071) per tonne in June, almost RMB5,400 (US$849) higher than the price of imported cotton which stood at RMB14,207 (US$2,234) per tonne in the same period, data released by the China Cotton Association (CCA) on Friday showed.

Zheng Chen'ai, chairman of the Wenzhou Chamber of Garment Industry, told the Global Times the garment industry has been sluggish in the first two quarters of the year, with garment exports in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province dropping by 30-50%, the newspaper said.