Yarn export marginally up in January , Cotton EBBS

Basic textiles export comprising natural and manmade fibres, spun and filament yarns shipment was up 9% YoY in January 2021 in terms of US$ worth US$945 million or INR6,837 crore, accounting for about 3.4% of total merchandise exported from India during the month. The increase was mainly an extension a of sharp increase of 35% seen in January. On a cumulative basis, exports were just 4% up in the first 10 months of 202021, compared same period a year ago. Spun yarns shipment totaled 140 million kg worth US$415 million (up 15% YoY) or INR3,000 crore (up 18%) in January 2021. Compared to December 2020, they were down 10% both in US$ in INR terms. Bangladesh emerged as the largest importer in spun yarns, but value was down 4%, followed by China (down 1%). These two markets accounted for about 35% to total yarn shipped during the month. Cotton yarn export volume was at 107 million kg worth US$330 million (INR2,387 crore). These were shipped to 71 countries at an average price of US$3.10 a kg, up US cents 18 from previous month and US cents 30 from a year ago. China remained as the top cotton yarn market, followed by Bangladesh, Vietnam and Peru. 100% man-made fibre yarns exports of 11 million kg, comprised 4.3 million kg of polyester yarn, 3.4 million kg of viscose yarn and 2.6 million kg of acrylic yarn. Polyester yarn export was worth US$8.85 million or INR64 at an average price of US$2.026 per kg in January. USA was the largest market followed by Brazil and Turkey. Viscose spun yarns export was worth US$10 million and were exported at an average unit price of US$2.83 a kg. Turkey was the largest importer of viscose yarn, followed by Brazil and Bangladesh. Blended spun yarns worth US$28 million were exported in January, including 16 million kg of PC yarns and 4.2 million kg of PV yarns. Egypt was the largest importers of PC yarn from India followed by Bangladesh while Turkey was the largest importer of PV yarns from India followed by Brazil. All kinds of filament yarns shipment stood at 56 million kg, valued at US$92.50 million or INR669 crore. Nylon filament exports declined sharply in January from its level a year ago while viscose filament, which were falling sharply, were up 13% year on year. Polyester filaments export was down 12% during the month from a year ago but up 14% compared with the previous month. All kinds of manmade staple fibres shipment totaled 32 million kg, valued at US$35 million or INR255 crore. Polyester staple fibre exports were up 11% in volume and 3% in terms of US$. The per unit realization was US$0.88 a kg or INR64 a kg, down 7% year on year. Viscose fibre export rebounded 12% in volume and 9% in US$ with price realisation averaging down 3%. Cotton fibre shipment in January, the peak month for any marketing season, was slightly down compared to last year in volume at 1.34 lakh bales worth INR2,912 crore or US$403 million. This was also an extension of a good start to the season. Bangladesh was the largest market for Indian cotton during the month, followed by China and Vietnam. Export price realisation for cotton averaged INR128 a kg or US cents 80.38 per pound during January. This was below Cotlook A index, the global spot price benchmark but was above domestic spot price for benchmark Gujarat Shankar-6. During the month, Cotlook averaged US$87.40 per pound while Shankar-6 was at US cents 75.64 per pound, making Indian cotton competitive in global market.

Nitin Madkaikar