Textile producers in China face a shortage of cotton and rising prices as Chinas cotton market shortfall is predicted to reach 4 million tons this year.Xinhua news quotes Chen Junliang, chairman of the Jiangsu Cotton & Fiber Group in east China's Jiangsu Province, as saying that textile producers have been scrambling for cotton purchase quotas, which are usually inclined to big companies.
Statistics provided by the China Textile Association, suggest the country's cotton growing area measured 5.12 million ha. in 2005, down 10 percent from the previous year. The total cotton yield amounted to 5.76 million tons last year.
The Rural Economic Research Center, said that domestic demand for cotton has been growing at 10 percent since 1999, while cotton plantation areas have dropped by 14.2 percent to 4.59 million ha. in 2004.
