Chinese cotton imports in December were down 29% year on year, as demand from the world's largest cotton consumer remains muted.

Chinese trade website Cncotton.com said the country's imports stood at 188,200 tonnes in December.

And concerns are growing that further attempts by the Chinese government to reduce its cotton stockpiles could push down demand for the fibre even further.

Fall in demand

The December numbers leaves imports for the 2015 calendar year to 1.48 million tonnes.

Based on collected Chinese customs data, news wire service Reuters calculated that this represented at least a 9-year low.

The US Department of Agriculture has forecast Chinese imports across the 2015-16 marketing year, which runs to August, at 1.2m tonnes.

This is down from 1.8m in the prior crop year.

Low mill usage

And cotton merchant Plexus last week said Chinese cotton imports could be as low as 1m tonnes this season.

Citing "trusted local sources," the merchant said that USDA's supply and demand statistics overstated mill demand by nearly 1m tonnes.

Plexus even suggested that in the long term China's reserves could end up being pushed onto the international market.

Given the low levels of consumption "there is not a lot of room to squeeze reserve stocks into this equation," Plexus said.

"This leads us to believe that China will sooner or later have to opt for exports."

Inventory drawdown

And there may be even lower cotton demand from China if the government again attempts to draw down its huge reserves.

The Chinese state cotton inventories, accumulated during a period of stockpiling intended to boost domestic prices, is believed to be around 11m tonnes.

Auctions last year proved unsuccessful, due to low demand, government reluctance to undercut private sellers, and the perceived low quality of the cotton on offer.

"If the next attempt is more effective that might mean more pressure on US prices given that Chinese import demand would fall," noted Tobin Gorey, of Commonwealth Bank of Australia last week.

Front month cotton futures in New York tumbled 1.2% to 61.71 cents a pound in afternoon deals, amid a broader soft commodity sell-off.