Business

Vietnam Likely To Emerge As Major Buyer Of Indian Cotton After Bangladesh in 2016-17 Season

Vietnam is likely to emerge as a major export destination for Indian cotton due to the large inflow of foreign investments in the country's textile industry, which has led to increased commodity demand, according to a recent United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.

The inflow of foreign investments in the country's textile industry is due to a series of free trade agreements, the USDA report stated.In 2016-17, Vietnam has imported 5 million bales of cotton as compared to 4.5 million bales a year beforeand became an important market for the fiber after Bangladesh.

India, which is the world’s top producer of cotton, mostly exports to Bangladesh, Pakistan and China. Surpassing China in 2015-16, Vietnam has become the second largest importing country after Bangladesh, since China has a huge pile up of cotton stocks as well as restrictions on imports.

There was seen a marginal rise in China's cotton import to 4.5 million bales in 2016-2017, as compared to 4.4 million bales which was a year ago, the USDA report stated.