Yarn export surges in December, cotton doubles

In December, basic textiles comprising fibres, spun and filament yarns shipment was up 43% YoY in terms of US$ worth US$919 million or INR6,706 crore, accounting for about 3.4% of total merchandise exported from India during the month. The increase was mainly a recovery of sharp decrease of 27% seen in December 2019. On a cumulative basis, exports were just 4% up in the first nine months of 2020-21, compared same period a year ago. Spun Yarn Spun yarns shipment totaled 162 million kg worth US$459 million (up 52% YoY) or INR3,346 crore (up 47%) in December. They were down 9% than December 2019 in terms of US$. Compared to November 2020, they were up 55% both in US$ in INR terms. China was again was the largest importer in spun yarns with value up 81%, followed by Bangladesh (11%). These two markets accounted for about 35% to total yarn shipped during the month.

Cotton yarn export was 126 million kg worth US$367 million (INR2,673 crore). These were shipped to 74 countries at an average price of US$2.91 a kg, up US cents 18 from previous month and US cents 16 from a year ago. China remained as the top cotton yarn market, followed by Bangladesh, Vietnam and Egypt. 100% man-made fibre yarns exports of 13 million kg, comprised 5.3 million kg of polyester yarn, 4.5 million kg of viscose yarn and 2.9 million kg of acrylic yarn. Polyester yarn export was worth US$11.5 million or INR84 at an average price of US$2.16 per kg in December. USA was the largest market followed by Brazil and Morocco. Viscose spun yarns export was worth US$12 million and were exported at an average unit price of US$2.67 a kg. Turkey was the largest importer of viscose yarn, followed by Brazil and Belgium. Blended spun yarns worth US$57 million were exported in December, including 162 million kg of PC yarns and 4.9 million kg of PV yarns. Argentina was the largest importers of PC yarn from India followed by Brazil while Turkey was the largest importer of PV yarns from India followed by Brazil. All kinds of filament yarns shipment stood at 52 million kg, valued at US$82 million or INR5977 crore. Polypropylene filament exports declined sharply in December from its level a year ago while viscose filament, which were falling sharply, were up 10% year on year. Polyester filaments export was also down 24% during the month from a year ago but up 6% compared with the previous month. Cotton

Cotton fibre shipment in December, the third crucial month of 2020-21 marketing season, almost doubled compared to last year in volume at 1.24 lakh bales worth INR2,561 crore or US$351 million. This was an ex-tension to a good start for the season. Bangladesh reemerged as the largest market for Indian cotton during the month, followed by China and Vietnam. Export price realization for cotton averaged INR121 a kg or US cents 75.56 per pound during December. This was way below Cotlook A index, the global spot price benchmark and also just above domestic spot price for benchmark Gujarat Shankar-6. During the month, Cotlook averaged US$83.40 per pound and Shankar-6 at US cents 73.39 per pound, making Indian cotton a bit competitive in global market.