Spinners and garment exporters in Bangladesh have not been able to take advantage of falling cotton prices.

This is because of the unfavorable exchange rate, the energy crisis and the fall in demand for finished goods.Apparel manufacturers are also receiving fewer orders from international buyers amid the slide in demand from consumers buckling under deep inflationary pains caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Usually, millers, spinners, traders and users brim with joy when the cotton price drops even by a few cents in the international markets since Bangladesh is a net cotton-importing country. And less than two per cent of the country’s total cotton requirement is met through domestic production. Spinners in Bangladesh are sitting on piles of unsold yarn made from cotton imported earlier at a higher price.

Most spinners are failing to make the most of the reduction in the price of the white fiber.Already cotton imports have started declining. The stockpiling of unsold old yarn has reached five lakh tons over the last two months because of a lower demand from garment manufacturers.During peak times, spinners could sell 1.20 crore kgs of yarn a day to export-oriented garment factories. Owing to the lower demand, they can sell just 80 lakh ( 8 million) kgs of yarn a day.