Inferior-quality Cotton worries ginners, traders

CHANDIGARH: Ginners and traders are worried over poor-quality cotton with low micronaire value arriving in the mandis of Gujarat and Maharashtra . The cotton is from the fifth plucking by farmers who usually uproot the plant after the third plucking as prices touched a 140-year high this season. Micronaire value is referred to evaluate fineness of cotton and its suitability for spinning highcount yarn. “Further (technical term for the fifth-plucking variety) cotton is lying with ginners and traders and there is an increasing trend of rejection.

It is a matter of grave concern for the companies,” said Saurashtra Ginners Association president Bharat Vala. “The current micronaire value of cotton from the fifth plucking is between 2.8 to 3.2 mic compared to the international standard of 3.5 mic to 4.9 mic. Further , the fibre strength is low at 24 to 25 GPT. Even the length is less at 25 mm against the standard 28.5 mm,” said Jasdanbased Jalaram Cotton and Proteins MD Anand Popat.

According to a rough estimate, ginners across the major trading states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab are having 5 lakh bales (one bale weighs 170 kg) of ‘further’ cotton. “Cotton is fetching Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 per candy (one candy weighs 356 kg) but there is no major buying,” said Popat. Major mandis in Gujarat with a large presence of ginning mills and traders for ‘further’ cotton are in Bodeli , Kadi, Bijapur and Vadodara.

Ahmedabad-based trader Akash Shah said yarn companies in the unorganised sector were making huge purchases by paying cash. “They are buying 5,000 to 10,000 bales from Gujarat a day. However, organised players are not buying even as prices have crashed by 25% for high quality cotton, owing to surplus availability of yarn with mills,” he said.

Meanwhile, new stocks of Kalyan cotton, or type V-797 , have started arriving across the mandis of Surendarnagar, Harij, Kadi and Dhanduka in Gujarat. Farmers are getting Rs 30,000 per candy to Rs 32,000 per candy for the Kalyan cotton even as Shanker 6 was fetching Rs 45,000 per candy.