The prices of Sankar-6 medium staple Bt cotton in the spot markets in Gujarat shot up over Rs 1,000 per candy (1 candy = 356 kg) since Saturday, mainly propelled by Chinese demand and mill buying, industry officials and traders said.
On Saturday, the GS-6 (29mm) closed at Rs 25,100-25,200 per candy. On Tuesday, it was quoted at Rs 26,200-26,300 per candy. “This price rise was expected in the first week of December. However, increased buying from exporters and millers in the last two-three days has resulted into this sudden rise,” Dilip Patel, president, All Gujarat Cotton Ginners’ Association, said.
Gujarat is the country’s top cotton growing state, followed by Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The GS-6 is the widest grown cotton variety in Gujarat and is also the largest exported variety from India.
Patel said exporters were buying as there was rising demand from Chinese importers.
“Cotton prices in China have shot up in the last few days because of good demand from millers due to which cotton imports from India has become very affordable for them. Currently, they are buying all that they can,” said Patel.
He said domestic millers too were buying aggressively as they feared that the spurt in Chinese buying would result into further price rise.The association has pegged Gujarat’s cotton crop at 10-10.5 million bales in the crop year that began in October, up from 9.2 million bales a year ago.
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