Indian cotton exports hit 11.5 million bales mark

India has exported a record 11.5 million bales of cotton this year, a senior government official said on Wednesday, clearing product left in limbo after it banned fresh overseas sales last month on worries about domestic supplies. India has a ban on fresh exports and no further bales awaited clearance. Exports raced ahead of initial government estimates of 8.4 million bales of 170 kg each on higher buying by China to replish its stocks.
"We had contemplated that exports would be of 8.4 million bales, now export registration is 11.5 million bales," A B Joshi, India's textile commissioner, told reporters after a Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) meeting. The CAB marginally raised cotton production estimates to 34.7 million bales for the current year to September from its earlier forecast of 34.5 million bales. Domestic demand is 25.2 million bales. At 5:26 pm (local time,)the benchmark May cotton contract on ICE was trading at 1.62 percent up at $0.909 per lb while the April cotton on India's Multi Commodity Exchange closed down 0.53 percent at 16,770 rupees per bale.
Cotton exports had put the commerce and agriculture ministries at loggerheads, with influential coalition ally Farm Minister Sharad Pawar asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to lift the ban to help farmers. India, the world's second-biggest producer and exporter of cotton, supplies about 13 percent of global exports and its biggest customer is China, which had criticised the initial total ban.
The country produced 34.7 million bales in the year starting October 1 and with demand usually at around 25 million bales, there had been room for booming overseas sales. Analysts said major cotton exporter Australia would gain the most if the ban on overseas sales from India continues.
Asked about lower than expected arrivals in spot market Joshi said,"Arrivals are not in tune with what was the arrival pattern noticed all these years. Cotton arrivals from the new crop have fallen 6.18 percent in the current season to 27.93 million bales, from 29.77 million bales a year earlier, the CCI said on Monday.