Cotton prices to stay strong in 2011-12

摘要

Cotton prices, says the International Cotton Advi sory Committee (ICAC), increased sharply this sea son, making the variations of past seasons appear minor in retrospect. It points out that world cotton prices continued rising in early 2011, with the Cotlook A Index reaching a record of US$2.44 per pound on March 8, 2011. That was almost three times the value of the index on August 1, 2010, the first day of the season. The Cotlook A Index averaged $1.58 per pound over the first eight months of the season, twice as high as the 2009-10 average. The main factors behind the surge in prices this season, ICAC says, include low world stocks, lower-than-expected pro duction, robust demand and panic buying at the begin ning of the season, which rapidly exhausted the limited available supply. The world ending stocks-to-use ratio which showed a ten-year average of 50% had contracted to 35% in 2009-10 and is expected to shrink further to 33% in 2010-11.