Jiangsu seed cotton prices are changing

The cotton market is in chaos, with quality declining sharply and the proportion of white-stemmed cotton flaps becoming overwhelming. This has dragged down the purchase price, making it hard to set a stable selling price. How can hand-picked cotton avoid losses? This is the current reality and mindset of many cotton businesses.

Dafeng, a top executive at a cotton company in Jiangsu, shared his concerns with the author. According to him, this year’s mid-to-late season cotton growth was favorable, and the development of cotton bolls was robust and full. Farmers have increasingly chosen high-yield double-resistant cotton varieties with standard color shades. However, the quality is surprisingly low. The company maintains strict raw material inspections since most of its lint is processed for major well-known textile companies. During on-site testing of seed cotton, they found that the dressing percentage was generally around 35%. Achieving 37-38% or more is rare. A few days ago, they discovered a batch of grade 3 seed cotton with a dressing rate as low as 31%! According to the current market price, the difference between a kilogram of clothing and seed cotton translates to a loss of about 0.13–0.15 yuan per kilogram. At regular prices, buying 100 pounds of 31% seed cotton versus 38% would result in a loss of over ten yuan.

When it comes to quality issues, the boss often sighs. First, moisture levels are way above standard, and almost no one dries the cotton before selling. It's common to pick and sell immediately. Acquisition companies no longer differentiate between grades and just assign a rough rating. Cotton is mostly judged by its mainstream color. Regarding the listing transaction, it's a mix of strong and weak qualities—essentially inconsistent. A comprehensive quality evaluation system is urgently needed. The veteran picked up a handful of seed cotton, revealing flowers, white stems, and gray-yellow fibers. At the processing site, workers manually remove foreign fibers, and even the differences in seed cotton are sorted out during cleaning and exhaust processes. After rolling, there's still a lot of mixed, stale cotton left. With such inefficiencies, how can processing companies reduce costs? They’re forced to hire more workers and improve processes, but it’s unclear if these efforts will lead to lower production costs.

As for the wild price swings, it's nearly impossible to keep up. Farmers don’t understand the challenges faced by textile companies, which are struggling to make sense of the situation. This cotton isn't worth collecting. Information spreads fast, and profits are transparent, with some people calculating your earnings. But who cares about your losses? Cotton is a product of seasonal acquisition, produced all year round, and requires a certain turnover period. With such fluctuating prices, who dares to take a risk in this unpredictable market? Even in cotton-producing areas, many CEOs are saying this: it's getting harder to harvest cotton.