According to the Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Department on the 10th, quality problems occurred frequently in imported cotton at Guangdong ports in 2014. Last year, the port imported a total of 357 batches of cotton, 101,324 tons, with a value of US$211.11 million, among which the imported cotton grade did not meet the rate. It reached 14.41%, an increase of 4.3 percentage points compared with the same period last year. The main problems of imported cotton are substandard grade, high impurity content, weight shortage, cotton bale contamination, mildew, hardening, etc.
It is understood that quality problems of imported cotton at Guangdong ports occur frequently. The main reason is: violation of evaluation criteria. For example, if a company imports a batch of Indian cotton, and the cotton bales are shorter than 1/16 or more, accounting for 35% of the total cotton bales, the inspection and quarantine department will downgrade the overseas supplier of this batch of cotton in accordance with regulations. In addition, affected by the continuous rainfall in some Australian cotton areas in March and April last year, the supply quality of Australian cotton was quite different from previous years. After inspection, the non-compliance rate of Australian cotton at Guangdong ports in 2014 was as high as 22.30%, 7.89 percentage points higher than the overall average.
Imported cotton quality problems frequently occur, which have a greater impact on Chinese domestic enterprises: First, it brings direct economic losses to Chinese domestic consignees. In 2014, cotton quality problems at Guangdong ports caused a total loss of US$3.7 million to consignees. For example, in 2014, a total of 99 batches of imported raw cotton were inspected by the inspection and quarantine department at Zhanjiang Port in Guangdong, with a weight of 18,433 tons and a total value of 34.42 million US dollars. Among them, 40 quality claim certificates and 88 weight claim certificates were issued after inspection by the inspection and quarantine department, with a total claim amount of US$290,000, accounting for 0.8% of the total value of imported raw cotton at Zhanjiang Port, saving huge savings for the country and enterprises. economic losses. The second is the tight supply of raw materials for high-quality finished products. The decline in the supply quality and quantity of SM and GM high-grade Australian cotton has led to the downgrading of high-grade cotton and even the inability to make transactions, causing tension in the supply of raw materials for cotton spinning companies that spin high-count yarns.
As one of the national strategic materials, cotton is related to the healthy development of China’s textile industry. It is very important to ensure the quality and quantity of imported cotton. In this regard, the inspection and quarantine department reminds relevant foreign trade companies: they should carefully choose trading partners. When signing cotton trade contracts, they should choose cotton suppliers that are honest, contract-abiding, large-scale and standardized, and try to avoid choosing middlemen, let alone Choose foreign cotton merchants with poor reputation. At the same time, we should also fully investigate and understand the quality status of foreign cotton markets, and avoid importing cotton from countries or regions with severe natural disasters or large stocks of old cotton. In addition, domestic companies must strictly sign contract terms when importing cotton, and be wary of foreign suppliers passing off substandard products.
