Data provided by the Statistics Center of the China Textile and Apparel Industry Federation show that cotton imports increased significantly in December 2013 compared with November. The total amount of raw cotton imported that month was 608,600 tons, an increase of 435,500 tons from last month, and a month-on-month increase of 251.59%; an increase of 76,400 tons from the amount of cotton imported in December 2012, a year-on-year increase of 14.36%. The quantity of cotton imported this month is still mainly within the quota and outside the quota. 387,200 tons of cotton were imported with sliding quasi-tax, a significant increase of 272,900 tons from the previous month. Among them, 205,000 tons of cotton were imported within the quota, a month-on-month decrease of 402.75%. The sum of imported cotton within quotas and sliding quasi-tax accounts for 97.3% of total imports. In 2013, a total of 4.1494 million tons of cotton were imported, a total decrease of 987,800 tons from the previous year and a year-on-year decrease of 19.23%. (See Figure 1) As of December, China’s cotton imports in 2013/14 (September 2013-August 2014) had totaled 1.1241 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 246,700 tons or 17.95% compared with 2012/13. .
Figure 1: Comparison of cotton import and export volume and amount
In December 2013, due to the large amount of new Indian cotton coming on the market, Indian cotton imports increased significantly. It was the largest import source country this month. The quantity increased significantly from the previous month. The import quantity increased from 8,400 tons last month to this month. of 342,200 tons. A month-on-month increase of 75.4%. Compared with 133,700 tons in December 2012, it was a year-on-year decrease of 155.9%.
This month, U.S. cotton imports ranked second. Due to the increase in total import volume, U.S. cotton imports this month were 69,700 tons. Cotton imports accounted for 11.45% of the total, an increase of 46,800 tons from last month. A month-on-month increase of 204.37%. Compared with the same period last year, this was a year-on-year decrease of 12%. (See Figure 2)
Australia still ranks third among importing countries this month. The quantity of cotton decreased from last month to 44,600 tons, accounting for 7.3% of total imports, a decrease of 32,600 tons from November, and a month-on-month decrease of 42.2%. Compared with the same period last year, there was a decrease of 71,400 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 61.6%.
Figure 2: Comparison of imported US cotton quantities
In December, China’s cotton imports from Brazil increased sharply, from 12,200 tons last month to 34,100 tons this month, a month-on-month increase of 179.5%.
Among the five major import source countries, China imported 33,400 tons from Uzbekistan, a significant increase of 33,200 tons from 2,000 tons last month and a month-on-month increase of 78.7%. Rising to fifth place among China’s cotton importing countries.
On the whole, in the last month of 2013, due to the intensive use of quotas and the large price difference between domestic and foreign cotton, the import volume increased sharply this month, and the major import source countries all experienced larger increases compared with the previous month. The countries ranked sixth to tenth were Greece with 16,100 tons, Mali with 9,400 tons, Mexico with 8,800 tons, Burkina Faso with 08,800 tons and Pakistan with 6,100 tons.
In addition to the above, the top 15 countries that China imports cotton from this month include: Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Cameroon and Israel.
In December 2013, cotton import prices in major source countries increased overall. The highest price among the above-mentioned major import source countries is the United States, which is US$2.7/kg, the same price as last month; the average price of Indian cotton is US$1.97/kg, and the price is also the same as last month. The average cotton price in Australia was US$2.27/kg, up 1.3% from the previous month; the average cotton price in Brazil was US$2.15/kg, down 0.5% from the previous month; the average cotton price in Uzbekistan was US$2/kg, down 7% from the previous month.
From the perspective of cotton import source countries, the United States, India, Australia, Brazil and Uzbekistan were the five largest source countries in 2012. The proportion is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Distribution of major sources of China’s cotton imports in 2013
Figure 4: Proportion of cotton imports in major provinces and cities in December 2013
According to the regions where cotton is imported (see Figure 4), China’s cotton import regions in December 2013 were mainly concentrated in Shandong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang. This month, Shandong’s cotton imports ranked first among provinces in the country. The most traditional cotton spinning province increased significantly from the previous month to 194,200 tons, a month-on-month increase of 287%, accounting for 31.9% of total imports. Jiangsu imported 160,300 tons of cotton this month, an increase of 211.3% month-on-month, making it the second largest importing province and city. Beijing imported 42,900 tons of cotton, an increase of 91.5% from 22,400 tons last month. Shanghai imported 37,300 tons of cotton in December, an increase of 448.5% from the previous month. Zhejiang imported 32,700 tons of cotton, an increase of 23,800 tons from the previous month and a month-on-month increase of 267.4%. The top ten importing regions in December 2013 also included Guangdong, Xinjiang, Hebei, Henan and Fujian Province.
Throughout 2012, the top five provinces and cities that imported cotton were Shandong with 899,600 tons, Jiangsu with 797,100 tons, Beijing with 773,700 tons, Shanghai with 230,300 tons, and Xinjiang with 176,900 tons. (See Figure 5)
Figure 5: Proportion of cotton imports in major provinces and cities in 2013
