India’s cotton sowing slips 5.96% by July 17 as import reliance rises despite duty waiver to October 2026
AI Market Summary
India's cotton sowing is tracking ~6% below last year, but officials and industry expect acreage to recover as El Niño-linked rainfall patterns may push farmers toward cotton versus water-intensive crops. A duty waiver on cotton imports until Oct 2026 and CCI's plan to supply mills directly temper near-term supply and textile price risk. However, global El Niño effects could still tighten international availability and raise input volatility.
Impact level
● Medium
Affected assets
NCCOCOTTON2USD/USDT+0.94%
AI Insight · NCCOCOTTON2USD/USDTAI Insight
● Neutral
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India’s cotton sowing area stood at 92.53 lakh hectares as of 17 July, down 5.96% year on year. Cotton output fell from 336.6 lakh bales in FY23 to 290.24 lakh bales in FY26, tightening domestic supply as imports rose 54.9% to $1.89 billion. The government has waived cotton import duty until October 2026 and is pushing the Cotton Corporation of India to supply mills directly. Experts said any El Niño-related rainfall shortfall could prompt farmers to shift toward cotton, but sowing is still at an early stage and near-term supply-demand disruptions are not evident.
