Meanwhile the cotton futures on ICE for December continue to gain and are hovering around 84 cents per pound
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Cotton prices in the domestic market have strengthened further, tracking the global trend and firm domestic demand. On Monday, the Cotton Corporation of India prices were increased by ₹700 per candy (356 kg) on firm demand from mills, amid depleting stocks. A potential delay in the new crop arrivals is also seen aiding the price trend, stakeholders said.Meanwhile, the cotton acreage, after trailing last year’s levels for most of the sowing season, has now caught up with an area estimated at over 106 lakh hectares (lh) as of Friday last. In Gujarat, cotton area has picked up and as on August 7 stood marginally higher at 20.87 lh (20.35 lh). Other states reporting higher acreage include Telangana at 19.05 lh (17.68 lh), Madhya Pradesh at 5.81 lh (5.56 lh), Andhra Pradesh at 3.46 lh (3.29 lh), Tamil Nadu at 0.5 lh (0.05 lh), Odisha at 2.24 lh (2.06 lh). In Maharashtra the cotton acreage stood marginally lower at 37.84 lh (38.28 lh), Karnataka at 6.97 lh (7.59 lh) and Rajasthan at 5.53 lh (6.28 lh).CCI prices surge“Overall prices of CCI cotton are up by around ₹1,400 per candy in the past two weeks as the cotton market continued to rule firm as the arrival of new crop is delayed due to the late onset of monsoon and consequent delay in sowing,” said Ramanuj Das Boob, a sourcing agent in Raichur.Considering the firm demand, the resale market is also witnessing good demand. Pressed bale cotton prices are ruling around ₹67,500-68,500 per candy, while resellers and multinationals’ quotes are approximately higher by around ₹1,000 above CCI prices.Despite the increase in prices, CCI is witnessing good sales daily, Das Boob said adding that total sales on Monday were estimated at around 70,000 bales. Last week the CCI had sold around 2 lakh bales. The total sales by CCI are estimated to be around 91.5 lakh bales till now and the unsold stocks are estimated at around 14 lakh bales.Market rules firmMeanwhile the cotton futures on ICE for December continue to gain and are hovering around 84 cents per pound. “A weaker dollar, weather concerns in the major US cotton growing regions, tightening global stocks expectations and improving demand sentiment supported the market,” according to Anand Popat of CotYarn TradeLink.The USDA current outlook points towards tighter global cotton balance in 2026-27 with word mill consumption expected to exceed production and global ending stocks projected to decline, while cotton prices in other origins such as Brazil, Australia and Pakistan regained firm, broadly following the global strength in the international cotton benchmarks, Popat said in his newsletter CotYarn.“The Indian market remained firm during the week, supported by improving yarn demand from both domestic and export markets. Cotton consumption has strengthened as many spinning mills have shifted towards coarser count yarn production, which generally requires higher raw cotton consumption,” Popat said.Strong offtakeBased on the current physical stock position, the domestic cotton consumption appears stronger than earlier estimates. Current projections indicate that India’s closing stocks could decline to around 75-80 lakh bales by the end of September. Limited arrivals, strong mill buying and tight availability of the 2025-26 crop continues to support the Indian cotton market, Popat said.Meanwhile, the arrivals of early planted cotton in the irrigated tracts of Karnataka and Andhra have started arriving in the market. “Arrivals of raw cotton grown using irrigation are trickling in markets such as Raichur, Bellary and Nalgonda among others and prices are hovering in the range of ₹8,800-9,000 per quintal,” Das Boob said.Published on August 10, 2026
