A farmer picks cotton on a farm in Qaha about 25 km (16 miles) north of Cairo, Egypt. (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt’s cotton exports shrunk by 40.6 percent in the first quarter of the agricultural season which started in September 2012, recording 137.4 thousand metric quintals compared to 231.3 thousand metric quintals in the same period the year before, state statistics body CAPMAS stated on Sunday.
CAPMAS has attributed the decline to the rise in the global price of cotton. The price of cotton per pound soared by 3 percent from November to December last year, reaching $0.83.
Egyptian textile companies bought 415.8 thousand metric quintals of the local cotton in the period September-November 2012, a whopping increase of 326 percent compared with the corresponding quarter a year before.
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