According to an estimate prepared by Perfect Cotton Co., a leading cotton trading house, the arrivals in the country, as of April 5, were 132.55 lakh bales as against the previous April's 125 lakh bales.

The total availability this year is expected to be in the region of 202.65 lakh bales which includes 6.50 lakh bales of imported cotton and surplus stock carried over from the previous year.

As a result of substantial accumulation of cotton, MaharashtraState Co-operative Cotton Grower's Marketing Federation had cut the price of the current season goods during the second week of April by Rs 200 to Rs 500 in case of new crop and by Rs 400 to 600 a candy in the case of old materials.The Federation has been able to sell over 71,000 bales at the new reduced rates. It has so far pressed 18.29 lakh bales and sold eight lakh bales. The sales were estimated to be 3.75 lakh and unsold stocks stood at 17.50 lakh bales.

As per the recent trade calculations, of an estimated 25.50 lakh cotton bales of production in northern zone comprising Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, 23.50 lakh bales have already arrived at the mandis while the unsold stock is approximately three lakh bales.

Gujarat leads this year in cotton with arrivals touching 33 lakh bales as against the production target of 49.50 lakh bales. The unsold stock at present is estimated to be five lakh bales.

Madhya Pradesh mandis have witnessed cotton arrivals of 17.50 lakh bales while theunsold stock is estimated to be 2.50 lakh bales against the expected production of 20.50 lakh bales.

Arrivals in Maharashtra at 26.75 lakh bales have left the state with the highest unsold stock position. Of the total 20.50 lakh bales, 3.50 lakh bales are from the previous year's and the balance account for the current year's arrivals.

Cotton crop arrivals in Andhra Pradesh, were 19.80 lakh bales against the estimated production of 26 lakh bales. The estimated stock lying unsold for the state is 1.75 lakh bales.

Registered cotton arrivals in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been 7.50 lakh bales and 3.50 lakh bales respectively. The cotton production in both the states had been estimated to be 10 lakh bales and six lakh bales respectively. The unsold stock of cotton in both the states is 0.80 lakh bales and 0.25 lakh bales, respectively.

The arrivals of cotton in the country during the current cotton year is estimated to be (arrivals in the previous year in brackets ) : October- 7.85 (5.27) lakh bales,November- 27.65 (24.15) lakh bales, December- 56.50 (48.70) lakh bales, January- 84.68 (85.00) lakh bales, February- 110.20 (105.00) lakh bales, March 129.25 (123.50) lakh bales, April- 142 (136.40) lakh bales, May 129.25 (148.75) lakh bales, June 160 (157.85) lakh bales, July- 162 (161.43) lakh bales, August- 162.50 (161.90) lakh bales and September- 163 (162.00) lakh bales.

It is estimated that a total of about 6.50 lakh bales of cotton will be imported throughout the current cotton year.

The total availability of cotton in the country is estimated to be 202.65 lakh bales says the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB).