Indian cotton breaches ₹80k per candy mark on strong buying

The increase in prices, due to strong buying, have come after nearly two months of relatively stable cotton prices. The Russian attack on Ukraine also caused for decline in the entire commodity segment including cotton.

On Friday, ICE cotton contract for May 2022 closed at 126.86 cents, up 500 points; July 2022 closed at 123.03 cents, up 493 points; while December 2022 closed at 105.24 cents, up 172 points. A market analyst said, “Demand for US cotton is still good, but on the supply side there is not much left in the country to buy.” Meanwhile, the US Department of Agriculture’s weekly export sales report on Thursday showed net sales of 371,400 running bales of cotton for 2021/2022, up 5 per cent from the previous week and 34 per cent from the prior four-week average. Increases were primarily for China.

On Saturday, Indian cotton prices raised by around ₹1,500-2,000 per candy. Cotton prices surged by ₹2,000 per candy in North Indian markets on Saturday amid increased buying by the mills, while daily arrivals rose in the mandis of these states. As per traders, the production of kapas (seed cotton) in the states of North India in the current season is expected to be lower than the industry’s second estimate, so daily arrivals of kapas in March have been lesser than normal, and will decline further by the end of the month. The balance stock of cotton with the mills of the states is lower than last year, and ginners are not selling bales on current prices. Therefore, domestic cotton prices are likely to remain bullish for the time being.

Kapas was quoted at ₹9,400-10,400 per quintal in the Punjab and Haryana line, while Upper Rajasthan line noted prices at ₹9,500-10,500 per quintal.

In Punjab, cotton was sold at ₹80,000-81,500 per candy. In Haryana, the prices were hovering at ₹77,400-80,200 per candy. In Upper Rajasthan, cotton was traded at ₹79,500-80,800 per candy. In Lower Rajasthan, cotton prices were at ₹74,400-76,400 per candy for spot delivery. In Gujarat, A grade cotton was sold at ₹81,000-82,500 per candy, B grade at ₹80,000-81,000 per candy and average grade at ₹78,000-79,000 per candy, according to Fibre2Fashion’s market insight tool TexPro. V797 cotton was sold at ₹40,000-45,000 per candy.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)