Fall in domestic prices, weak rupee help revive cotton exports.

After being stagnant for over a month, exports of cotton have shown signs of a revival, as lower domestic prices and a weaker rupee have made Indian cotton competitive in the global market. With domestic cotton prices falling to 40,000 rupees per candy (1 candy = 356 kg) and the rupee weakening by over 2.5%, export enquiries have increased in the last couple of weeks. While prices of cotton in major spot markets have fallen 4-5% in the last two-three weeks, the rupee has fallen around 3% since January, after hitting a near 34-month high of 63.24 during that month. Recent revival in export orders is likely to take overall export orders comfortably above 3.5 mln bales and actual shipments above 3.0 mln bales by the end of this month. The situation has triggered hope that India will meet its annual export target, which the association scaled down to 5.5 mln bales in December from 6.3 mln bales