Farmers in India, the second-biggest grower and exporter of cotton, may boost planting by as much as 10 percent this year to benefit from rising prices, according to the nation’s biggest buyer.
The crop area will increase from last year’s 10.2 million hectares (25.2 million acres), Subhash Grover, managing director of the Cotton Corp. of India, said in an interview. He declined to forecast the output in the harvesting season beginning Oct. 1.
A bigger crop may weigh on global prices, paring costs for Gap Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and J.C. Penney Co., who secure garments from Indian companies including Arvind Ltd., Gokaldas Exports Ltd. and Alok Industries Ltd. India, which halted export registration in April, will lift the curbs in the year starting Oct. 1, Textile Commissioner A.B. Joshi said earlier this month.
“Farmers are very happy with the price they have got and there’s an expectation that prices will remain steady,” Grover said. “There’s a shift to cotton from crops such as oilseeds in some parts and good weather will ensure we’ve a good crop.”
Cotton has climbed 19 percent in New York in the past 12 months after U.S. farmers pared planting in favor of wheat and soybeans. December-delivery futures rose as much as 0.7 percent to 73.55 cents a pound in after-hours trading on ICE Futures U.S. Prices surged 54 percent in 2009, the most since 1975.
India’s output may reach a record 32.5 million bales, up from 29.2 million bales this year, D.K. Nair, secretary general of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, said June 30.
Arrivals
Raw cotton arrivals at various Indian markets totaled 29.4 million bales as of July 17, more than the 28.8 million bales a year earlier, the Cotton Corp. said on its website today. China accounted for 57 percent of the 7.38 million bales shipped from Oct. 1 to June 15, according to the textiles ministry.
Farmers planted the crop across 8.28 million hectares as of July 15, 20 percent more from a year earlier, according to the farm ministry. An Indian bale weighs 170 kilograms.
The monsoon, which accounts for more than 70 percent of India’s annual rain, may be widespread over most parts of the country, the weather office said today. The central and western states, the biggest growers of cotton and soybeans, may receive good showers, the state forecaster said on its website.
The condition of monsoon-sown crops is good and there will be “substantial improvement” in sowing during the rest of the season, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said yesterday.