Vietnam to import 600,000 tonnes of cotton in 2013
Vietnam will import some 580,000-600,000 tonnes of cotton this year, up nearly 15 percent from last year’s figure.
In the first nine months of the year, cotton imports reached nearly 430,000 tonnes, worth US$864 million, a year-on-year increase of 35 percent.
The Vietnam Cotton and Spinning Association attributed the increase in cotton imports to the rising demand for cotton fibers of domestic garment and textile firms.
Last year, Vietnam purchased 420,000 tonnes of cotton from abroad, compared to only 150,000 tonnes in 2005, becoming one of the world’s top five cotton importers.
The US, India, Australia, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Pakistan, China and Indonesia are major cotton suppliers for Vietnam. Among them, the US makes up 43.5 percent of the nation’s total cotton import.