August 2021: Cotton Yarn and Fabric Exports Rise in India

Cotton, one of humanity’s major inventions, is a product that can be found almost anywhere, bearing witness to both its value and capitalism’s incredible impact on human consumption and production. Cotton is used largely in the Indian textile sector, which contributes significantly to the nation’s economy. Cotton yarn is produced and exported in huge quantities in India. India’s leading cotton producers include Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana.

In FY21, India produced 365 lakh bales of cotton altogether. Cotton production in India includes 30 percent, 24.7 percent, and 45 percent of the country’s total area, respectively, of hybrid, upland, and diploid cotton. In India, the textile industry is a major end-user of cotton yarn, and the textile sector is one of the country’s biggest industries. In India, the textile industry accounted for approximately 62 percent of cotton applications, while the healthcare industry accounted for approximately 10%.Several government initiatives help the textile industry, which is boosting cotton production in India. Cotton yarn and fabrics make up over 23% of India’s total textile and garment exports.

In comparison to January and August 20, India’s textile exports climbed considerably. In the period January to August 21, manmade staple fibre exports were 411.55 million USD, up from 250.81 million USD in the previous year. During the same period in 2021, raw cotton exports, including waste, more than doubled. Between January and August 2021, these exports increased by 0.88 billion dollars to 1.88 billion dollars.

Cotton yarn, fabric, and finished goods exports increased from $4.45 billion to $7.2 billion by August 2021. Between January and August of this year, readymade cotton garment exports totalled 4.27 billion dollars, growing to 5.43 billion dollars in 2021.

Wool exports increased from 68.10 million USD in January-August 20 to 78.41 million USD in January-August 2021. Between January and August 21, exports of silk yarns, fabrics, and made-up, RMG, and carpets were far more than in the corresponding period of 2020. During the specified time, RMG silk exports totalled 97.77 million USD, making it the top export in the silk category. From January and August of this year, exports of total silk textiles totalled 44 million dollars, up from 31.29 million dollars in 2020. Exports of handloom items and handmade carpets totalled 179.24 and 857.82 million dollars, respectively.

Exports of Cotton Yarn     

Bangladesh was the top importer of cotton fabrics from January to August in both 2020 and 2021, with total imports of 455.69 million USD and 1.06 billion USD respectively. Exports of cotton yarn to China were worth 644.17 million dollars by August 2021, which was higher than the previous fiscal year’s exports. The volume of exports to Vietnam and Egypt increased in FY 21 to 144.02 and 112.91 million USD. Peru’s imports were 64.55 million dollars at the end of August 2020, and they climbed up to 94.34 million dollars by July 2021. By the end of August 2021, Korea and Sri Lanka had imported 85.70 and 71.11 million USD of cotton yarn, respectively. Exports to Turkey which were worth 54.66 million USD during January to August 2020 witnessed a fall in the corresponding period of 2021 with total exports worth 48.67 million USD. Colombia imported $60.62 million USD worth of cotton yarn from India in 2021, up significantly from the previous year’s imports. Imports from other countries were 375.02 and 517.48 in the respective years. India’s total cotton yarn exports were worth 2.96 billion dollars at the end of August 2021.

Exports of Cotton Fabrics

Since 2020, Bangladesh has remained the largest importer of cotton fabrics, with imports increasing from 158.42 million USD in July 2020 to 26.73 million USD at the end of July 2021. Korea and Sri Lanka’s imports, which were worth 67.98 and 62.45 million dollars between January and August 2020, slightly increased to 71.84 and 77.65 million dollars respectively during the same period in 2021. India exported cotton fabrics to Nigeria worth $39.15 million from January to August 2020, rising to $66.45 million in 2021. Bangladesh secured the sixth position with total imports of $48.66 million USD during Jan-Aug 21. The UAE’s imports totalled 23.28 million dollars between January and August 2020, which hiked up to 45.44 million USD during the same duration. Sudan and Nepal both imported cotton fabrics worth around 42 million dollars during the corresponding period of 2021. By the end of August 2021, India will have exported cotton fabrics totalling $1.14 million USD.

Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry  

By :

Somasree Roy,

Textile Value Chain