African textile industry has suffered and its factories have closed down throughout the region due to abolition of global quotas in January 2005.
China has emerged as world's manufacturing superpower.
Textile manufacturers of African region complain that China's dominance has hurt not just the textile industry but the entire supply chain.
John Hewlett of Plexus Mozambique has been overseeing farming of cotton in Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in Africa.
Plexus Mozambique, subsidiary of Plexus Cotton Ltd., based in the U.K., last year purchased around 30,000 tons of cotton seed. Its nearest competitor produced about 15,000 tons.
Plexus' harvest yielded more than 12,000 tons of cotton fiber, ginned at factories in Montepuez in Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique; 8,000 tons were delivered to its biggest customer, China, for milling.
"China as a producer is a huge consumer of raw materials," said Hewlett, adding that while cotton is grown in China, "their manufacturing requirements are such that their textile mills still need to import cotton fibers from other suppliers."
Last year global consumption of cotton amounted to about 25 million tons and of which China accounted for almost 10 million tons.
China's total yarn production for 2005 was about 14 million tons.
For Mozambican cotton farmers, however, growing demand from China is a welcome development.
marketing@alchempro.com
