Cotton prices rise, textile trade seeks zero duty

Textile exports turn expensive: SIMA

With cotton prices rising, the textile industry has sought removal of 10% import duty on the produce. Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) chairman Ashwin Chandran said in a press release that the increase of ₹3,800 a candy of cotton over the past 15 days by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and the 10% import duty on cotton were affecting the entire textile value chain. It had made textile exports ‘expensive’ in the global market, he said. Though the CCI offered three months’ lock-in for bulk purchase, textile mills could not benefit due to a liquidity crunch and uncertainty in cotton prices, he said. The import duty has encouraged price speculation, he claimed. For some varieties, prices of Indian cotton had exceeded the international price.