India’s cotton export likely to be 67 lakh bales in 2017-18

Rise in output is expected to raise India’s cotton export by 15 per cent to 67 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) in the 2017-18 marketing year, beginning October over the previous year’s figure of 58.21 lakh bales, according to the Cotton Advisory Board. Average prices have decreased by 2-4.8 per cent for various cotton varieties compared to the previous year.

Minister of state for textiles Ajay Tamta told parliament recently that crop production is estimated to increase to 377 lakh bales during the same period from 345 lakh bales earlier, a news agency reported.

As on December 20, 97.59 lakh bales of cotton had arrived, out of which 3.66 lakh bales had been procured from farmers by the Cotton Corporation of India Limited under minimum support price (MSP) operations, he added.