Cotton prices continued to soar, even yesterday, with the rates exceeding Rs 60,000 per candy (one candy = 356 kg) as cotton growers had a tendency to hold back cotton, particularly when the domestic as well as global demand for cotton picked up. 

Yesterday, raw cotton prices of the Shankar-6 variety in Gujarat were hovering between Rs 60,000-60,500 per candy while in Maharashtra, the variety was quoted at around Rs 60,000. On February 1, the prices stood at Rs 50,000-50,500 per candy. 

The Ministry of Agriculture projected the cotton production to touch 33.9 million bales against the figure of 32.9 million bales estimated by the Cotton Advisory Board. A section of the cotton traders as well as textile mills are, however, of the opinion that overall cotton production for the season 2010-11 is not going to surpass 31 million bales.

Cotton growers are speculating that cotton prices will further rise. Same is the case with cotton traders. Buyers, on the other hand, seem to be panic-stricken because of the rising trend of cotton prices.

source:Fibre2fashion