Henan: Unable to bear the weight of cotton

Today, Henan, the main cotton producing area, is turning over one page in the history of cotton.

The reporter learned from the Cotton Association of Henan Province that due to a variety of factors, the cotton planting area in Henan Province continues to decline.

Contrary to this, the continual surge in the price of cotton has set a new record in 10 years.

Wei Yong, deputy secretary-general of the Henan Cotton Association, told reporters: “In recent years, the cotton planting area in Henan has shrunk dramatically, and in 2012 it has fallen to the lowest point in 30 years.”

In response to this situation, Wei Yong believes that the establishment of a long-term mechanism for the stable development of cotton production, increase investment in cotton production, the implementation of the minimum purchase price protection of seed cotton, strengthen policy control, timely release of imported cotton quotas and sell reserve cotton, cotton prices, etc. Measures are already necessary for Henan.

Endangering small and medium-sized cotton mills

Henan, once known as the “provincial province of cotton production,” has been unable to keep up with the gold medals in recent years because of the sharp decline in planting area.

Due to multiple factors such as planting costs, price fluctuations, more pests and diseases, and non-dominance of comparative benefits, Henan's cotton planting area has shrunk year by year.

It is understood that in 2012, more than 1400 textile enterprises in Henan Province will use more than 2.6 million tons of cotton each year, accounting for one-fourth of the total cotton used in the textile industry in the country, and the “large textile province” is worthy of the name.

The rapid growth in demand has made Henan, which was originally a large cotton producing province, unable to meet its development needs simply because of its own production.

The reporter learned that some of the existing cotton products of textile companies were purchased from Xinjiang in advance and some of them were auctioned cotton.

However, from the purchase of Xinjiang, the cost of transportation has increased the burden on textile companies. In order to ease the financial pressure, textile companies adopt the production methods of side-by-side production and side-by-side procurement, and try not to use cotton stocks.

Li Xiuming, secretary general of the Henan Textile Information Association, told reporters: "Most of the medium-sized and small-sized cotton spinning enterprises in Henan Province are either cutting production or halting production."

Li Xiuming’s opinion was confirmed by Song Tongqing, Chairman of Tongqing Textile Industry Co., Ltd. in Xuchang City. Song Tongqing told reporters: "Because of the poor market environment, business orders have been significantly reduced compared to before. Xinjiang's cotton is not used much because of the high price, and more local cotton is used." But why local cotton?

Industrial chain stability is challenged

The cotton industry involves many links such as planting, storage, textiles, printing and dyeing, and clothing. The industry chain is long and the industry is huge. It is the main support point for Henan's foreign trade export and economic growth. Now the advantages of the cotton industry have ceased to exist, and the stability of the industry chain has also been affected.

Talking about the status quo of the cotton market, Xie Xinmei, director of the No. 3 National Cotton Plant in Zhengzhou City, told reporters that due to the slow transmission of the cotton industry chain and the slow market sensitivity, the continuous weakening of cotton will easily lead to obstruction of the industry chain.

"Because the cotton of Henan cotton is poor, most of the products produced are middle and low grade products such as coarse fabrics, and the output efficiency is relatively low, so most cotton mills have given up this business. In recent years, the cotton that survives in Henan native cotton has survived. The acquisition of the plant and the cotton and linen companies collapsed a lot, and the rest are basically companies that deal with Xinjiang cotton,” said Xie Xinmei.

Yudong Plain was once ranked ahead of Henan Province due to its good regional advantages. The strong cotton supply capacity has also contributed to the vigorous development of the cotton trading market and ginning mills in the civil rights county.

Civil Rights County Sun Liu countryman Wang Chengju told reporters that once the owner of a cotton acquisition company was promoted to be a county government official because of his outstanding performance in the acquisition of cotton. Today, most cotton purchasing plants and ginners in Minquan County are forced to close because they have no business.

During the interview, the reporter learned that local cotton associations and cotton cooperatives that should have played a role in the relationship between cotton farmers and textile companies have long lost their proper function. Even the cotton association's telephone calls have been suspended.

However, according to Li Xiuming, the cotton industry in Henan still has great opportunities. “At present, the total cotton yarn production in China is around 200 million tons, and Henan accounts for more than 100 million tons.”

The road to revitalization

It is understood that in 2012, Henan textile industry accounted for 1/4 of the country's cotton.

Cotton in Xinjiang is good in cotton, so every time cotton is harvested, textile companies in Henan often get together to run in Xinjiang, or as Henan Xinye Textile (3.35, -0.04, -1.18%) Co., Ltd. To ensure cotton supply.

Meng Shaohui, chairman of the Henan Cotton Association, said: "Henan was once a major province of cotton production. Currently, the amount of spinning yarn in Henan ranks second in the country, and the cotton gap is very large."

Xu Bo, president of the Henan Home Textiles Association, told reporters: “At present, the difficulties encountered by cotton companies are also related to the lack of enthusiasm for the development of traditional industries by the government.”

Xu Bo said: "As the process of urbanization accelerates, governments everywhere are advocating the promotion of investment and the development of industries with relatively high output, such as manufacturing, electronic information industry and high-tech industries. This not only takes up a large amount of land, but also The transfer of a large number of labor forces in rural areas has led to the declining cotton acreage in recent years."

Some experts suggest that insurance should be given to cotton to ensure farmers' income.

The above-mentioned villager Wang Chengju also believes that the government will give farmers more subsidies for planting cotton and raise the purchase price of cotton, which will naturally attract more people to grow cotton.

In the cotton ginning and cotton and linen companies, Xie Xinmei suggested that the state should also provide a certain amount of subsidies to encourage SMEs serving Yu cotton to increase technological innovation, reduce costs, and effectively improve the quality of Yu cotton.

It is worth looking forward to that the Zhengzhou Cotton Exchange Market, which opened on November 8, provided trading platforms for buyers and sellers in the form of electronic transactions. Driven by this platform, it will, to a certain extent, stimulate the enthusiasm of farmers to grow cotton.