According to statistics from Shandong Customs, cottons imported through Shandong ports are 7390,000 tons in last 7 months increasing 65.1% compared to the same time last year. The import value is 1.31 billion US dollars, which is 1.3 times higher than that last year. The import price of cotton keeps rising this year. In June, the price reaches 1,800 US dollars/ ton and it hits record high in July with 1912 US dollars per ton.
Staffs in Shandong Customs analyze reasons behind this growth. First, textile enterprises embraced a strong recovery in last half year. As a result, the demand of cotton is huge. Secondly, the output of cotton in our country reduced by 14.6% last year, which intensify the balance of supply and demand. The shortage of cotton in China is 1 million to 1.4 million tons before new cotton are sold at the end of August. The domestic unbalance of cotton leads to the surge of cotton imports. However, the demand of cotton exceeds its supply at global market. So the cotton price jumps quickly.
Textile and garments enterprises are under huge pressure with this rapid growth of cotton price. These enterprises are advised to adjust product structures, improve products' added value, speed technology innovation and introduce high advanced machines to reduce costs.
