Business

Thailand Cotton Yarn Imports To Grow, Exports To Shrink This Year

India, Vietnam and Pakistan remain major suppliers of cotton yarn in China, and imports of cotton yarn from markets like Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Thailand are low. Market share of Thailand cotton yarn is around 1% to 2% now in the Chinese market, and imports of Thailand cotton yarn by China declined by 28.8% on the year to 5,412 tons in January-April, 2017.

According to historic data, imports of Thailand cotton yarn have remained low between 2008-2012 in China, with average annual volume at around 20 kt, peaked to 47 kt in 2013 and edged down again. And is expected to remain low in 2017. Does this imply reduced production of cotton yarn in Thailand, or has the export direction changed?

Thailand relies heavily on cotton imports, with yearly import volume staying at 300-400 kt. Cotton imports totaled 92.5 kt in Jan-Apr, 2017, down 9.5% y-o-y. Feedstock for cotton yarn in Thailand is mainly US, Indian and Brazilian cotton, partially Australian and Mali cotton. China import high quality cotton yarn from Thailand, made from US cotton. However, production capability of cotton yarn in Thailand is limited, with low annual production, so available export resources are also restricted.

Yearly exports of cotton yarn amounted to 30 to 40 kt in Thailand, peaked at 55.8 kt in 2013 and dipped later. Exports of cotton yarn totaled 7.1 kt in January-April, 2017, down 30% compared with the same period of last year, which may keep shrinking in 2017. Thailand's cotton yarn imports have also been falling - below 10 kt in 2001-2009, up to above 10 kt in 2010-2016, peaked at 22.3 kt in 2016, and amounted to 7.5 kt in January-April , 2017, up 11.2% y-o-y, which is likely to grow throughout 2017.

Combed C8-25S/1 was the major cotton yarn exported in Thailand, followed by carded 8-25S/1 and carded cotton yarn below 8S/1. Carded 8-25S/1 was major cotton yarn imported into Thailand, followed by combed 25-30S/1 and combed 30-47S/1. Imports of cotton yarn into Thailand were mainly medium-to-low count combed cotton single yarn and low-count carded cotton single yarn. All in all, Thailand cotton yarn has been mainly for local consumption, export volume is not high.