As market arrivals of cotton pick up, the procurement of the natural fibre crop by the State-run Cotton Corporation of India(CCI) at minimum support price (MSP) has gained pace with daily purchases exceeding the one-lakh bales (170 kg) mark. The market arrivals crossed two lakh bales on Monday, according to the trade.
“Procurement has started across all cotton growing States, except Odisha. Last Friday, we crossed 1 lakh bales a day and approximately we have crossed 8 lakh in total this season,” said Lalit Kumar Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, CCI.
As prices continue to remain bearish – below MSP levels – influenced by the global price trend amidst weak demand, the expectation is that CCI will have to do the heavy lifting through its market intervention buying at MSP. The raw cotton (kapas) prices in the private trade are ruling between ₹6.500 and ₹7,500 per quintal, lower than the the MSP of ₹8,100.
