The provisional figures released by the Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council (Texprocil), has valued exports for the calendar under review, at Rs 6,590.26 crore against Rs 6,439.62 crore shipments made in 1999. However, in dollar terms, exports for the year is seen at $1,482.30 million ( $1,493.36 million).

Though exports took off on a high note as the year began, the pressures of a likely high year end stocks, were felt towards the middle of 2000. Cotton yarn exports lost the initial momentum from July onwards. According to exporters, major importing countries like Korea and Bangladesh has surplus stock of cotton yarn.

Korea, Hong Kong and Bangladesh are the major importers of cotton yarn from India. ``The market has almost stagnated. It could be difficult to make any further inroads. The speculations of a slowdown, in the US economy affecting global trade has to be seriously considered,'' said a major exporter here. India emerged as the biggest cotton yarn exporter in the world in 1999.

However, a disturbing aspect is the free fall being witnessed in the average unit value realisation in dollar terms, during the last couple of years.

From a high of $4 a kg in 1995, the average realisation for cotton yarn exports has slid to $2.785 a kg in 2000 ($2.794 a kg in 1999). Though exporters had last year cited low cotton prices for the low realisation, they are at a loss to provide reasons for the downward trend for the last few years.

Here it should also be noted, that the share of processed yarn in the total cotton yarn export basket fell to 6.17 per cent and 6.44 per cent in terms of quantity and value respectively. The share of processed yarn to the total yarn exports in 1999 was 8.92 per cent and 9.57 per cent in terms of quantity and value respectively. Mercerised yarn, bleached yarn, dyed yarn and melange yarn have been categorised as processed yarn, and are exempt from the statutory ceiling restriction too.

The drop in export of processed yarn is despite the Council's talk of evolving strategies, to increase the share of these value-added yarn in total cotton yarn exports. The total exports of these yarns for year 2000 at 32.86 million kg is valued at Rs 424.42 crore was, in fact, lower than that achieved in 1998 (34.46 million kg valued at Rs 436.55 crore).