India's Cotton Yarn Exports Drop 25 Per Cent In Five Years: Trade Body

By Shakir Husain NEW DELHI, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- Indian cotton yarn exports have fallen by about 25 per cent in five years due to "duty disadvantage" in key markets, an industry body said. India's exports of cotton yarn declined from US$4.57 billion in 2013-14 to US$3.44 billion in 2017-18 whereas fabric exports during the same period dropped seven per cent from US$4.94 billion to US$4.59 billion, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) said in a study. Vietnam and Indonesia have duty-free access to the China market, the largest importer of cotton yarn, while Indian yarn carries a 3.5 per cent import duty, CITI chairman Sanjay Kumar Jain said. From 2013 to 2017, there has been a 48 per cent decline in Indian cotton yarn exports to China while exports from Vietnam increased 129 per cent and Indonesia saw a rise of 55 per cent in its exports to China, according to CITI. Fabric exports from India are facing pressure from competitors such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia as top markets the European Union, China, Turkey and Vietnam impose 8-12 per cent import duties on Indian fabric. -- BERNAMA