A cotton yarn price today or a Shankar-6 cotton price you find online is a reference point, not a price you can buy at. A reliable price is a written quote from a spinner or ginner, for a stated quantity, quality and delivery date, valid for a stated number of days. We do not publish figures here for that reason.
Searches for the Shankar 6 cotton price or the cotton candy price in India return figures that are usually a day or more old. Indian raw cotton is quoted per candy. One candy is 356 kg of lint cotton. A cotton candy price in India is therefore a price for 356 kg, and a quote for a bale or a container needs converting. Shankar-6 is a Gujarat cotton variety traded as a benchmark, explained in what Shankar-6 cotton is.
Why daily prices mislead
Published prices come from traders, associations and news services. They describe a specific grade at a specific place on a specific day, and most are indicative. The cotton you are offered may differ in staple length, micronaire, strength or trash content, and each of these moves the price.
Yarn is more complicated still. A yarn price depends on the count, whether it is carded or combed, ring-spun or open-end, compact or not, and on the packing. A single "yarn price" has no meaning without those details.
Cotton also moves with the season. Prices change when the new crop arrives and when the state buying agencies are active. How Indian cotton bale prices are set explains the main influences.
How do you ask for a firm quote?
Send every supplier the same request. For raw cotton, state the variety or grade, staple length, micronaire, strength and trash limits, the quantity, the delivery window and the place of delivery. For yarn, state the count, the type, the use and the cone and carton packing.
Then ask for these four items in the reply:
- The unit and basis of the price, such as per candy, per kilogram or per metric tonne, and whether tax is included.
- The delivery point and Incoterm, such as ex-mill, FOB or delivered.
- The validity of the quote in days, and what happens if you accept after it.
- The payment terms and the conditions that apply to a price lock.
Comparing yarn offers properly
Convert every quote to the same unit and the same basis before you compare. Check the moisture basis: yarn sold on a conditioned weight and yarn sold on actual weight are not the same, as explained in yarn moisture regain and conditioned weight. A difference of a few percent in moisture is a difference in the real price.
Also compare the tolerance on count and strength. The method is in how to compare yarn quotes from Indian spinners.
Locking the price
If cotton is moving, you can ask the spinner to fix the price against a firm order, usually with an advance or a confirmed letter of credit. Expect the supplier to want that commitment in return. Do not accept a price that is "subject to cotton rates on the date of dispatch" if you need certainty, because that leaves the real price open.
Next step
We request the same specification from several audited spinners, make sure the quotes are on the same basis and have the lot tested. Book a free sourcing review with your count, quantity and delivery window.