China Cotton Import Monthly Report - April, 2014

The international cotton price stayed at high positions, and the domestic price went downward in April, with the price gap between them narrowed down largely. For the month, the import volume of April changed little with last month, though the Y/Y change is a great fall and the average import price is higher. The quota usage is mainly the quota under 1% tariff, 70% of the monthly import; the bonded zone import is nearly 60% among the import means with the continued decline by general import. Most cotton import comes from India and US, together 85% of the total monthly volume; the port destinations are mainly Qingdao, Nanjing and Shanghai and the import regions are mostly from Jiangsu, Shandong and Beijing.
According to Customs, in April China imported cotton of 224,400 tons, 2300 tons more than last month, 1% up over the month, while 47.9% down Y/Y; the average import price is 2,087 USD/ton, 25 USD up over March, up by 1.2%, and up by 7.5% Y/Y. The cumulative import of the first eight months of 2013/14 is 2.11 million tons, 33.4% down Y/Y; the first four months of 2014 calendar year is 985,000 tons, 45.2% down Y/Y.