German Cotton Imports Up 15%

BERLIN - May 13/02 - SNS -- Germany, a nation that doesn't produce any cotton, imported 146,125 metric tons (MT) of raw cotton last year, up 15% from 1999/2000.

Part of this increase is due to increased re-exports which totaled 17,859 MT in 2000/2001, 4,217 MT more than the previous year. In addition to this, importers took advantage of the seemingly low cotton price level at the end of 2000 to fill their stocks. For 2001/2002, imports are expected to fall back to a lower level. As prices have continued to fall, importers are speculating on even lower prices in future, and are now avoiding building excessive stocks.

The top four suppliers of raw cotton to the German market were Uzbekistan, Chad, Cameroon, and Sudan, with 17.7%, 9.1%, 8.5%, and 7.6% respectively. About 12% (17,859 MT) of the imported cotton was re-exported in 2000/2001, mainly to the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

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