Cotton linter import sees growth spurts in Mar

Cotton linter import of China has grown strongly this year and the overall performance has been outstanding as the prosperity has not been seen for many years.

1. Suring import of cotton linter
Due to healthy demand of cotton linter, the import volume has been rising since this year and sees sharp growth. According to customs data, cotton linter import of China totals 16,989.3 tons in Mar, up 81.1% m-o-m and up 83.5% y-o-y, hitting new highs since Aug 2016.

China imports 35.8kt of cotton linter in the first three months of 2021, up 56% on yearly basis. The import in the first quarter has been almost 70% of total imports in 2018 and around half of total in 2020. Based on such trend, the import of 2021 can be over 90-100kt.

2. Import price increases as well
The import price of cotton linter rises notably in line with continued increase of import volume. The import price averages at $342.5/mt in Mar, up 23.6% m-o-m and up 5.3% y-o-y. In the first quarter of this year, the import price is $307.4/mt, down 7.6% y-o-y, narrowing with fast speed.

3. Indian cotton linter popular on the market
By virtue of large quantity, price and location advantages, especially notable demand growth of cotton linter this year, Indian linters are favored by customers and India returns to the top place among origins by taking up 56.5% of total imports. In Mar, China imports 9,604.5 tons of cotton linter from India, up 107% m-o-m and up 309% y-o-y. In addition, Turkey, Brazil and US are still at leading positions.

4. Concentrated destinations of imported cotton linter

Jiangsu, Shandong and Anhui are major destinations with imports of 12.3kt in Mar, occupying 72.2% of total imports.

To sum up, some VSF plants place dissolving pulp by cotton linter pulp due to short availability of dissolving pup this year, so the demand for cotton linter pulp improves rapidly so the production resumes in some plants, which is the major cause of continued growth of imported cotton linter. Moreover, the huge price spread between Chinese and imported cotton linter further boosts fast growth of imports. The import in the second quarter of 2021 may slow down, but high-speed growth throughout the year can still be expected.