Bangladesh now depends less on India for cotton

and African nations become the largest source

India accounted for 26.12% of the total cotton imports of Bangladesh, down
from more than 60 percent two years ago. A recent data of the Bangladesh
Textile Mills Association (BTMA) is showing this.

Local spinners and millers look to cut down their dependence on a single
source for their vital raw material. In this regard, African nations have
surpassed India to become the largest source of cotton for Bangladesh.

Last year, Bangladesh imported 37.06% of its requirement for the white fiber
from East and West African countries. At the same time, 11.35% of the cotton
came from the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries, 11.14%
from the US, 4.65% from Australia and 9.65% from the rest of the world.

The low quality of Indian cotton is the main reason behind the falling imports
from the neighboring country. A section of Indian cotton traders also cannot
maintain timely shipment and deliver the right quantity of cotton as per
agreement.

“Indian cotton quality is not good, it is not contamination free, short staple
length and other quality parameters are not good,” said Mohammad Ali
Khokon, President of BTMA.

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For example, it is written in the letter of credit that there may be 3 to 4 percent
less cotton than the amount agreed upon when the imported fiber is weighed
in Bangladesh. But in many cases, it is 10 to 15 percent less.

“This is a big loss for us. We can’t afford this kind of losses. This is another
reason for moving away from India,” said Mehdi Ali, President of the
Bangladesh Cotton Association.

The concentration of moisture in the Indian cotton is higher than in other

countries’, which makes it difficult to store in the warehouses for a long time.

Last year, Bangladesh imported 8.28 million bales of cotton (one bale equals
to 282 Kg). In dollar terms, the imports are worth $3 billion. The country
produced 1.65 lakh bales of cotton last fiscal year, which is less than 3% of
the annual demand for 10 million bales.

“We already know that in Africa, there are three cotton zones: East Africa,
West Africa, and Central Africa. These are well known for high-quality and
long staple length. The productivity of Africa’s cotton is 10-12% higher than
that of India’s cotton,” said Mohammad Ali Khokon.

“Indian cotton quality is not good, it is not contamination free, short staple
length and other quality parameters are not good.”

-MOHAMMAD ALI KHOKON, PRESIDENT OF BTMA

“So, Bangladesh cotton importers have increased their importing from African
counties,” Khokon concluded.

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In order to extend local production, state-run Cotton Development Board is
looking for new farming lands in hilly and swamp areas in various districts
along with the existing farming areas in Jashore, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Rajshahi,
Gazipur and Mymensingh.

The board hopes to produce 2.5 lakh bales of cotton by 2021, which will meet
nearly 5-7% of the local consumption.

What is Cotton Fibre? | Characteristics of Cotton Fibre

Cotton Fiber:

Cotton is the most used fibre for making different types of

fabric throughout the world. It is cellulose fibre. It has too much
popularity due to its various uses in textile. It also comfort in all
the seasons. Some important properties of cotton fibre has
explained in this article.

Cotton fiber

[YARN TOPIC]
Properties of Cotton Fibre Considered by Cotton Spinners:
The below characteristics of cotton fibres are considered for cotton
spinning:
▪ Fibre Color,
▪ Fibre Length,
▪ Fibre Maturity,
▪ Fibre Fineness,
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 ▪ Fibre Elongation,
▪ Fibre Length uniformity,
▪ Fibre Strength,
▪ Fibre Cleanness.

All the above properties have explained in the below:

1. Fibre color:

Color is particularly important as a measure of how well a fabric

or yarn will bleach or dye. Instrumental techniques for
determining the color of the sample have only now reached in
textile industry. HVI measurement of color provides reasonably
accurate results of average yellowness and reflectance in a
sample.

2. Fibre length:
Staple length is average length of spinner able fibre. It is one of the key
properties of fibre. It should be noted here that, the count, quality, strength
etc. are totally dependent on staple length of fibre. If staple length
increases then quality of yarn decreases.

Fibre length influence on the following matters:

▪ Spinning limt,
▪ Productivity,
▪ Yarn evenness,
▪ Yarn strength,
▪ Handle of the product,
▪ Yarn hairiness,
▪ Lusters of the product.

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Fibre length measuring unit:
▪ Staple length,
▪ 2.5% span length,
▪ Effective length,
▪ 50% span length,
▪ Upper half mean length,
▪ Upper half length,

3. Fibre maturity:
The maturity of cotton fibre is totally dependent in terms of the
development of cell wall. It should be noted here that, a fully mature fibre
has a well-developed thick cell wall whereas an immature fibre has a very
thin cell wall.

4. Fibre fineness:
Fibre fineness is totally influences the number of fibres in the cross section
of yarn. Finer fineness varies depending on the below matters:

▪ Yarn strength,
▪ Yarn evenness,
▪ Spinning limit,
▪ Productivity,
▪ Yarn fullness,
▪ Luster,
▪ Handle,
▪ Drape of the fabric product.

5. Fibre elongation:

The fibre elongation should be at least 1-2% and

preferable slightly more. The higher crease resistance of
wool compared with cotton arises for example from the

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difference in their elongations cotton 6-10% and wool
25-45%.

6. Fibre length uniformity:

Length uniformity impacts on the below matters-

▪ Ends down,
▪ Yarn irregularity,
▪ Higher wastage in combing,
▪ Higher fly liberation in spinning, weaving and knitting.

7. Fibre strength:
If fibre strength is high then yarn and fabric strength also gets high.
Minimum strength for a textile fibre is approximately 6 cN/Tex (about
6km breaking length).

8. Fibre cleanness:
Cotton fibre contains different types of foreign matters. Those are-
▪ Vegetable matter (Seed fragments, leaf fragments, stem
fragments etc.)
▪ Mineral material (sand, coal, dust),
▪ Other foreign matters (metal fragments, packing materials,
cloth fragments).
Glass Fiber
Glass has, for many years, been one of the most underrated technical
fibers. Used for many years as a cheap insulating material as well as a
reinforcement for relatively low performance plastics (fiber glass) and
(especially in the USA) roofing materials, glass is increasingly being
recognized as a sophisticated engineering material with excellent fire
and heat-resistant properties.

Committed and satisfied employees are particularly important for the

organization's success.

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Modern Yarn Spinning Machine (AJS)