贸易商将从政府突然改变的棉花政策中得利

Traders and farmers with crop-holding capacity are the ones to have benefited the most from the Indian Government’s changes in cotton export policy this year.

The Government had first imposed a ban on cotton exports from the country in March this year, which was lifted after a gap of nearly two months.

Accordingly, the prices of cotton went down after the export ban was announced, and they picked up momentum again as soon as the ban was lifted.

Small-scale farmers who lack crop holding capacity incurred loss by selling the crop at the existing market price during the intervening period. The traders who bought cotton from them at low prices as well as few wealthy farmers who held on to their harvest are now making profits, as the prices have returned to the pre-ban level.

Dr. NP Hirani, Chairman of Maharashtra State Cotton Growers' Co-Operative Federation, said, “The Union Government’s decision to lift the ban on cotton exports is a welcome one, but it has come too late, as small farmers had sold their cotton crop long back.”

“The Government’s decision would, however, benefit in the long run to farmers who are sowing cotton. At the moment, it is the traders who will benefit the most by the decision, because the farmers do not have cotton with them. Only those farmers who have a lot of money with them have the capacity to hold cotton,” he adds.

“Instead of serving the interest of the farmers, the Government’s decision about cotton exports is influenced by mill owners who want a huge profit margin. If cotton exports are allowed, the profit margins of mill owners go down,” he opines.

Cotton prices in Indian markets hovered around Rs. 4,500 a quintal when the ban on exports was announced. Subsequently, the prices came down to around Rs. 3,600 a quintal. After the recent announcement of the lifting of the ban, the prices have again bounced back to Rs. 4,500 per quintal.

译文如下：

贸易商、农民和农作物持有者今年将从政府新的棉花政策中得利。
今年三月，政府曾出台棉花出口禁令，却在两个月以后取消。
相应地，棉价在禁令颁布后下跌，但在禁令取消后马上走高。
小规模种植的农民由于缺少农作物持有量，在政府干预期间以市价走货，从而遭受了严重损失。那些从他们手里低价买到棉花的贸易商和富农则由于产能充足开始得利，更何况现在棉价已经恢复到禁令前的高位。
NP Hirani博士，马哈拉施特拉邦棉花种植合作协会主席说：“政府取消出口禁令的举措很受欢迎，但是好像有点晚了，因为小规模种植的棉农早就把手中的棉花全都抛售了。不过政府的这项举措会给棉农带来长期的利益。现在是贸易商得益最多，因为棉农手中棉花不多。只有那些资金充足的棉农才有能力保住棉花库存。政府关于棉花出口的决定不是为了造福农民，而是考虑到那些想要获得巨额利润的作坊主。如果棉花出口被允许，那么作坊主的利润自然会下降。”
在禁令颁布时，印度市场的棉价在4500卢比/公担附近徘徊。随后，棉价下降到3600卢比/公担。在近期禁令取消的消息公布以后，棉价开始回升到了4500卢比/公担。