Cotton output estimated at 382.75 lakh bales in 2014-15: CAI

Mumbai

Cotton production estimate has been kept unchanged at 382.75 lakh bales for the 2014-15 marketing year ending September, according to industry body.

The Cotton Association of India (CAI) has retained the estimate of the crop at 382.75 lakh bales in 2014-15 marketing year (October-September).

Production stood at 407.25 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) during 2013-14, according to CAI data.

The association said that the state-run Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has procured about 87 lakh bales to provide price support to the farmers, but has not been able to sell the stocks.

The pace at which the commodity is getting disposed, a sizable quantity is likely to remain unsold at the end of the season, CAI said in a statement.

“This augurs very badly for the country and apprehensions of a major support price operation at the beginning of the next cotton season itself are looming large,” CAI said, while asking the CCI to quickly dispose of the stock.

The association said that China is holding stock equivalent to its cotton consumption of about two years and is finding difficulty in liquidating it.

“The country needs to learn a lesson from the mistakes that China made and dispose of the cotton lying with CCI quickly, to avoid getting into a China like situation,” CAI said.

The projected Balance Sheet drawn by the CAI for the year 2014-15 estimates total cotton supply at 453.65 lakh bales while domestic consumption is estimated at 315.00 lakh bales thus leaving an available surplus of 138.65 lakh bales.

PTI