China National Cotton Reserves Corporation (CNCRC) said on Friday that cotton sales had jumped by 51.7 percent year on year to 5.46 million tons by June 6. The survey found that 6.34 million tons of cotton had been processed during the same period, up 19.6 percent.

According to a survey conducted by the CNCRC, the price of cotton is rising as textile manufacturers increase cotton stocks.

As the cotton-planting season comes to an end, 74 percent of Chinese textile manufacturers plan to purchase more cotton, which has pushed the cotton price up by 0.8 percent to 13,076 yuan per ton from the end of last month, it said.

CNCRC, a state-owned enterprise founded in 2003, is mainly responsible for the purchase, sale, storage, transportation and processing of the State cotton reserves and guiding cotton imports and exports.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2007)