-A brief overview of cotton yarn imports across the country

Since the beginning of this year, the overall trend of domestic cotton prices has been downward. In April, affected by the cotton target price policy, domestic cotton prices fell significantly. In May and June, the decline in cotton prices tended to be gentle. Correspondingly, the quasi-tax price difference in May and June fluctuated around 1,800 yuan/ton. On June 24, the price difference between domestic and foreign cotton was 1,769 yuan/ton.
Driven by the decline in domestic cotton prices and the narrowing of the price difference between domestic and foreign cotton, domestic companies’ enthusiasm for imported cotton yarn has gradually subsided. From January to May, the country’s total textile and clothing imports were US$10.77 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%; of which cotton yarn imports accounted for 24.8%, and the import volume was US$2.67 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%.
1. From January to May 2014, the growth rate of my country’s cotton yarn imports slowed down significantly.
From January to May, the country’s total cotton yarn imports were 847,000 tons, an increase of 3.3%. Compared with the same period last year, the growth rate slowed down significantly, especially in March and May, which fell significantly, both of which were negative growth. Among them, 181,000 tons were imported in January, down 0.6% year-on-year; imports in February were 153,000 tons less than in January, but an increase of 49.8% compared with the same period last year; imports in March were 178,000 tons, a decrease of 10.7% year-on-year; and imports in April were 182,000 tons. tons, an increase of 11%; import volume in May hit a new low this year, at 152,000 tons, down 11.3% year-on-year.
The average import price of cotton yarn in the first five months was US$3.15/kg, down 3.1% year-on-year. The import unit price has been on the rise since February this year. It was 3.08 US dollars/kg in February, 3.17 US dollars/kg in March and April, and further rose to 3.18 US dollars/kg in May, a year-on-year decrease of 4%.
2. The growth of my country’s cotton yarn imports from India has slowed down, while imports from Vietnam have good momentum.
India, Pakistan, and Vietnam are the top three source markets for China’s cotton yarn imports. This year, my country’s imports of cotton yarn from India have slowed down, while imports from Pakistan have shown negative growth, while imports from Vietnam have a good growth momentum. From January to May, my country’s cotton yarn imports from India accounted for 30% of the total import volume, which was 253,000 tons, an increase of 9%; the average import price was US$3.09/kg, down 3.6% year-on-year. Imports of 206,000 tons of cotton yarn from Pakistan accounted for 24.3%, a year-on-year decrease of 20.4%; the average import price was US$2.8/kg, a decrease of 4.5%. Vietnam ranked third, with an import volume of 136,000 tons, accounting for 16.1%. The growth momentum is relatively impressive, with a year-on-year increase of 68.3% in the first five months; the average import price was 3.24 US dollars/kg, a year-on-year decrease of 10.8%.
Among the remaining top ten import source countries, Uzbekistan has the fastest growth, with an increase of 111.1%, and import volume of nearly 29,000 tons. Indonesia and South Korea increased by 44.1% and 4.1% respectively, with import quantities of 32,000 tons and 14,000 tons respectively. From January to May, imports from the United States and Thailand were around 16,000 tons, a decrease of 41.7% and 0.4% compared with the same period last year.
3. Guangdong is China’s largest importer of cotton yarn, but its imports have shown negative growth.
From January to May, the import volume of cotton yarn in three major provinces and cities exceeded 100,000 tons, accounting for 61.3% in total. Guangdong’s import growth was negative, importing 251,000 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 17.5%, and the import unit price was US$3.43/kg; Beijing Imports were 140,000 tons, an increase of 13.5%, and the import price was US$3/kg; Zhejiang imported 129,000 tons, a decrease of 3.9%, and the import price was US$2.89/kg. Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Shandong imported 76,000 tons, 76,000 tons, and 69,000 tons respectively, with growth slowing down by 19.2%, 19.1%, and 32.9% respectively; Fujian imported 44,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%; Anhui and Xinjiang increased respectively. 110.2% and 157.5%.