In Oct, China imported 108kt of cotton, a fall of 26.9kt or 19.9% month on month, but up 29.3kt or 37.2% year on year. In the first two months of 2018/19 season (Sep-Oct), cotton imports totaled 243.1kt, up 71.6kt or 41.7% year on year, and the in the first ten months of 2018, imports amounted to 1.222 million tons, an increase of 240.7kt or 24.5% year on year. In Oct, imports of Brazilian cotton rose obviously, while imports of Australian, US and Indian cotton declined from last month.
Cotton import analysis in Oct:
| Origins |
M-O-M (kt) |
M-O-M change |
Y-O-Y (kt) |
Y-O-Y change |
| Australia |
-27.2 |
-34.60% |
14.7 |
40.00% |
| US |
-1.7 |
-10.10% |
-2.1 |
-12.40% |
| India |
-10.6 |
-75.00% |
3.3 |
1407.30% |
| Brazil |
11 |
459.00% |
9.2 |
215.70% |
Imports from Australia, US and India declined in general, especially imports from India, seeing a large fall of 75% month on month. Indian cotton imports were very small last Oct, so the yearly increase was significant. Brazilian cotton imports rose by 215.7% from last year, and traders reported that the quality was relatively good this year, with smooth sales. US cotton imports declined by 12.4% year on year, indicating the influence of trade war.
Australian cotton remained to be the major import source, while its proportion fell down in Oct, down from 58% to 47.6%. US cotton took a slight higher share to 13.8%. The proportion of Brazilian cotton increased obviously from 2% to 12.4%, while that of Indian cotton moved lower from 11% to 3.3%. The increases were also see cotton from Mali, Zambia, Cameroon and Burkina Faso, and decreases were from Togo, Sudan, Benin and Cote d'Ivoire.
The major terms of trade was cargos in special supervision area logistic, with a proportion of 40.5%, and proportion of other terms of trade was 15-30%.
The top three destinations of imports were Shandong, Jiangsu and Beijing, taking a share of 46.9%, 21.7% and 16%. Qingdao of Shandong has the largest shares due to good location and Jiangsu took the second place with good textile industry.
Cotton imports in 2018:
In 2018, China’s cotton imports climbed up in correction overall, while in July, imports decreased with the start of Sino-US trade war.
The ups and downs of unit prices of imported cotton were related with international cotton prices. In addition, it was also related with import origins and quality. Unit prices of imported cotton in Oct ticked down in Oct compared with last month, partly because of lower international cotton prices, partly because of the adjustment of cotton structure. In Oct, import proportion of Australian cotton declined much due to high prices, while imports of US and Brazilian cotton moved up with relatively low prices.
