Prices of cotton linter in China surged to a decade high in 2021, says a CCF Group Report. Delinting is the process of removal of short fiber from cotton seeds before oil is extracted from the seeds. Supply was tight in 2021 because inflation kept pushing up cottonseed and cotton linter prices. Coupled with growth of refined cotton-grade and cotton linter pulp grade-cotton linter, the widening supply gap further added to the tightness of cotton linter supply.

However, the commodity market gradually cooled down with bigger pressure on the control of coal since the end of October and prices of cottonseed and cotton linter fell after peaking amid increasing supply. There was large supply gap of cotton linter in 2021 because of the recovery of demand from refined cotton, especially a sharp increase of cotton linter pulp (CLP)-grade cotton linter in the first three quarters. Thus the gap had to be filled in by imported cotton linter. Cotton linter imports by China grew significantly.

In 2022, cotton linter consumed by refined cotton and cotton linter pulp is expected to fall, so cotton linter prices may be under pressure with subdued growth of demand, so the price is expected to be moving down. However, the emergence of unexpected events may cause price volatility or unpredictable changes on the market.