According to the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), Bangladesh’s cotton imports from India in 2015 increased by 36 per cent year-on-year to 2.99 million bales, which was reportedly 37 per cent of that year’s total cotton import of 5.91 million bales by the country.
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Dwelling on the increased cotton imports from India, President of BTMA Tapan Chowdhury underlined, “Due to higher quality, lower prices and shorter lead-time, India has become the largest cotton sourcing country for Bangladesh.” He was speaking at a press meet at the association’s office in Dhaka recently.
However, the BTMA President warned against over-dependence on India, when he said, “We should not be too much dependent on India alone for cotton as any disruption in the supply chain could cause a lot of trouble for Bangladesh.”
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It may be mentioned here that apart from India and Uzbekistan, Bangladesh usually imports cotton from the US and some African countries. However, according to industry insiders, India became the largest cotton supplier to Bangladesh’s spinners and weavers thanks to the rise in imports. In 2015, Bangladesh imported 6.1 million bales of cotton, 49 per cent of which came from India.
Cotton imports from India started climbing in 2011, with Bangladesh importing a total of 4.37 million bales of cotton that year, of which 1.66 million bales came from India, registering a 48 per cent year-on-year growth.
Speaking at the press meet, Chowdhury also said that the import trend shows that India will dominate the Bangladeshi market among the other cotton growing and exporting countries in the coming days.
