NEW DELHI (Dispatches) - Amid slowing raw cotton exports in recent months, India has seen sharp jump in cotton demand from an unexpected buyer, Iran.
After many Western nations imposed trade sanctions on it, Iran’s cotton purchases from India have gone up multiple times in recent months.
Going by the DGFT data, India exported 15,877 kg raw cotton during the year 2017-18.
Cotton exports to Iran reported a phenomenal jump of 1070 per cent to 1.85 million kg during 2018-19. The reason was favorable payment terms in rupee denomination and higher demand.
"Our overall cotton exports will easily cross the CAI's estimate of 46 lakh bales. We are seeing renewed buying interest from countries such as Iran, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Though the quantities are smaller, we are seeing steady orders from these countries,” Atul Ganatra, President, Cotton Association of India (CAI) told Businessline.
An exporter from Mumbai confirmed the increase in cotton consignments to Iran in recent months. "They pay in rupee and the payment comes directly to the Indian bank account. This is possible because they sell oil to India for rupee,” the exporter said, requesting not to be named.
As per the latest data, during the April-June period of 2019-20, India exported 5.03 million kg of raw cotton to Iran, up 813 per cent on year-on-year basis.
Besides Iran, Oman is the only country where a growth in export is reported during the period. India exported 1.98 million kg of raw cotton to Oman during the first quarter of this fiscal, up from a nominal 0.02 million kg in the same period last year.