Weekly Report: Inactive Market before Spring Festival, Cotton Import Volume Declined

This week, all ginners have suspended production and seed cotton buying due to the forthcoming Spring Festival. Most cotton textile companies stopped purchase raw cotton. Only white cotton 3128 of Xinjiang Bozhou was reported at 13,500-13,800 Yuan/ton; white cotton 3128 in Xiajin and Dongying, Shandong has delivery price of 13,000 -13,200 Yuan/ton. The second round subsidy of cotton target price reform for Xinjiang was granted by the end of January, and would be delivered to growers before 15th February.
According to survey of CCA, by the end of January, more than 90% of seed cotton of the season had been sold. In Xinjiang, 4.26 million tons of lint was processed, including 1.68 million tons from PCC. The national commercial cotton carryover stock was 3.07 million tons, 218,000 tons more than last month.
Influenced by weak domestic cotton demand and the forthcoming Spring Festival, the January cotton import and average price declined. According to Customs, China imported cotton of 161,000 tons, 39% less than last month, and 45% less Y/Y. 70% of the monthly import was under 1% tariff. For the first five months of 2014/15 season, China imported cotton of 723,000 tons, 49% less than the corresponding time last year.
Last week (9th – 13th), domestic price CC Index 3128B settled at 13,436 Yuan/ton, 15 Yuan down over the week.