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According to the news from foreign sources on December 21, according to the estimate released by the Cotton Association of India (CAI) on Thursday, the cotton output in 2023/24 may decline by about 8% to 29.41 million bales due to the decline of unit yield in most planting areas.

According to CAI data, the cotton output in 2022/23 (October to September of the next year) is 31.89 million bales (170 kg per bale).

Atul Ganatra, Chairman of CAI, said: "Due to the infestation of pink coccidia in the northern region, the output is expected to decrease by 2.48 million bales to 29.41 million bales this year. The yield per unit area in the southern and central regions is also affected, because there is no rain for 45 days from August 1 to September 15."

By the end of November 2023, the total supply is expected to be 9.25 million packages, including 6.0015 million packages of goods, 300000 packages of imports and 2.89 million packages of initial inventory.

In addition, CAI expects 5.3 million bales of cotton to be consumed by the end of November 2023, and 300000 bales to be exported by November 30.

The inventory by the end of November is expected to be 3.605 million bales, of which 2.7 million bales are from textile mills, and the remaining 905000 bales are held by CCI, the Commonwealth of Maharashtra, and others (multinational companies, traders, ginners, etc.), including cotton that has been sold but not delivered.

Until the end of 2023/24 (as of September 30, 2024), India's total cotton supply will remain 34.5 million bales.

The total cotton supply includes 2.89 million bales of initial inventory at the beginning of 2023/24. The cotton output is 29.41 million bales, and the import volume is estimated to be 2.2 million bales.

According to CAI estimates, cotton imports in this year are expected to increase by 950000 bales last year.