Indian cotton planting to reach record on prices
Thursday, 22 July 2010
MUMBAI, July 21 (Bloomberg): Farmers in India, the second-biggest grower and exporter of cotton, may boost planting by as much as 10 per cent this year to benefit from rising prices, according to the nation's biggest buyer.
The crop area will increase from last year's 10.2 million hectares (25.2 million acres), Subhash Grover, managing director of the Cotton Corp of India, said in an interview. He declined to forecast the output in the harvesting season beginning October 1.
A bigger crop may weigh on global prices, paring costs for Gap Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and JC Penney Co, who secure garments from Indian companies including Arvind Ltd, Gokaldas Exports Ltd and Alok Industries Ltd India, which halted export registration in April, will lift the curbs in the year starting October 1, Textile Commissioner AB Joshi said earlier this month.
"Farmers are very happy with the price they have got and there's an expectation that prices will remain steady," Grover said. "There's a shift to cotton from crops such as oilseeds in some parts and good weather will ensure we've a good crop."
Cotton has climbed 19 per cent in New York in the past 12 months after US farmers pared planting in favor of wheat and soybeans. December-delivery futures rose as much as 0.7 per cent to 73.55 cents a pound in after-hours trading on ICE Futures US Prices surged 54 per cent in 2009, the most since 1975.
India's output may reach a record 32.5 million bales, up from 29.2 million bales this year, DK Nair, secretary general of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, said June 30.
Farmers planted the crop across 8.28 million hectares as of July 15, 20 per cent more from a year earlier, according to the farm ministry. An Indian bale weighs 170 kilograms.
The monsoon, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of India's annual rain, may be widespread over most parts of the country, the weather office said Wednesday. The central and western states, the biggest growers of cotton and soybeans, may receive good showers, the state forecaster said on its website.
The crop area will increase from last year's 10.2 million hectares (25.2 million acres), Subhash Grover, managing director of the Cotton Corp of India, said in an interview. He declined to forecast the output in the harvesting season beginning October 1.
A bigger crop may weigh on global prices, paring costs for Gap Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and JC Penney Co, who secure garments from Indian companies including Arvind Ltd, Gokaldas Exports Ltd and Alok Industries Ltd India, which halted export registration in April, will lift the curbs in the year starting October 1, Textile Commissioner AB Joshi said earlier this month.
"Farmers are very happy with the price they have got and there's an expectation that prices will remain steady," Grover said. "There's a shift to cotton from crops such as oilseeds in some parts and good weather will ensure we've a good crop."
Cotton has climbed 19 per cent in New York in the past 12 months after US farmers pared planting in favor of wheat and soybeans. December-delivery futures rose as much as 0.7 per cent to 73.55 cents a pound in after-hours trading on ICE Futures US Prices surged 54 per cent in 2009, the most since 1975.
India's output may reach a record 32.5 million bales, up from 29.2 million bales this year, DK Nair, secretary general of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, said June 30.
Farmers planted the crop across 8.28 million hectares as of July 15, 20 per cent more from a year earlier, according to the farm ministry. An Indian bale weighs 170 kilograms.
The monsoon, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of India's annual rain, may be widespread over most parts of the country, the weather office said Wednesday. The central and western states, the biggest growers of cotton and soybeans, may receive good showers, the state forecaster said on its website.