Cotton exports may dip to 7 mn bales this year.

Mumbai: Cotton exports are estimated to decline by about 46 percent to seven million bales in the 2012-13 marketing year owing to higher global stocks, officials said here Thursday.

India, the world's second-biggest cotton producer, had shipped around 12.8 million bales in the 2011-12 marketing year (October-September). One bale has 170 kg of cotton.

"The global demand is expected to be less following very very high stocks and this is expected to affect our exports. About 65 percent of our exports are to China, which is holding bulk of the overall global stocks," Textile Commissioner A B Joshi told reporters after a meeting of Cotton Advisory Board. He, however, did not quantify the stocks held globally.

The board under the Textile Ministry advises government on matters pertaining to production, consumption and marketing of cotton in the country. It met today to firm up its initial estimates on cotton availability for domestic and export purpose in the 2012-13 marketing year.

Talking about cotton production, he said, it was estimated to decline marginally to 334 lakh bales in the current season due to inadequate rains in Gujarat.

"The total cotton output is expected to be slightly lower than last season at about 334 lakh bales compared to 353 lakh bales. This is mainly due to lower rainfall in Gujarat, especially in the Saurashtra region, which affected sowing," Joshi said.

Cotton production is estimated to be around 18 lakh bales in Punjab, 24 lakh bales in Haryana and 16 lakh bales in Rajasthan.

The total output in the central zone is likely to be 182 lakh bales, of which 85 lakh bales is estimated in Gujarat, 80 lakh bales in Maharashtra and 17 lakh bales in Madhya Pradesh.

The total area under cotton is also likely to decrease slightly by 5 percent to 116.14 lakh hectares in 2012-13 from 121.78 in the previous year.

The total demand is estimated to be 340 lakh bales compared to 382.21 lakh bales, he said.

Source : zeenews.india.com