Zimbabwe Govt may buy cotton directly from farmers

The Zimbabwean government might intervene and buy cotton directly from the farmers, if the current impasse between cotton farmers and merchants is unresolved.

This was announced by Joseph Made – Agriculture Minister, who has been advised by the cabinet to intervene in the issue.

The Cabinet has advised me to mobilise resources to buy cotton from the farmers and sell it later in global markets, when prices move up, he said.

“We will have to reactivate the Cotton Marketing Board (CMB), which will purchase cotton on behalf of the government”, he added.

The bone of contention is the wide difference in prices offered by the merchants and the prices demanded by the cotton farmers.

Cotton merchants are offering between 36 and 50 US cents per kg, while farmers are demanding between 85 and 120 cents per kg

For more details please visit : Zimbabwe Govt may buy cotton directly from farmers @ Fibre2fashion

Burkina Faso firm secures US$ 151mn loan to buy cotton

Burkina Faso’s largest cotton firm, Societe Burkinabe des Fibres Textiles (Sofitex), has secured a loan of 77 billion CFA francs (US$ 151 million) to fund its cotton purchases for the 2011-12 season, Chief Executive Officer of the firm Jean Paul Sawadogo said.

Mr. Sawadogo said loan obtained from 10 local lenders would facilitate speedy payment to cotton growers.

The amount to be taken on credit this season by Sofitex is a seven percent rise over the loans secured during last season, Roger Dah-Achinanon, Managing Director of Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI)’s Burkinabe unit, which was also among the banks that extended the loan, said.

Burkina Faso Government had announced in April last year that it would procure cotton from farmers at a price of 245 CFA francs per kg.

Sofitex has started procuring the crop from December 2011. Mr. Sawadogo said the firm’s cotton-seed production for the 2011-12 season is expected to grow by five percent to 300,000 metric tons.

Mr. Dah-Achinanon revealed that Sofitex has already returned around 75 percent of its last season’s loan. Coris Bank International, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA)’s Banque Internationale du Burkina, Groupe Banque Atlantique, Banque Sahelo Saharienne pour l’Investissement et le Commerce, Bank of Africa Burkina Faso and Societe Generale SA’s unit are the other lending partners, he informed.

For more details please visit : Burkina Faso firm secures US$ 151mn loan to buy cotton @ Fibre2fashion