Can cotton linter regain strong momentum?

Cottonseed price kept uptrend in Mar and cotton linter edged up after dipping. In early Mar, crude oil surged amid Ukraine-Russia conflict and geopolitics, pushing up palm oil and soybean oil and in turn spurring cottonseed oil and cotton dreg prices, then cottonseed oil plants raised the operating rates. Cottonseed supply was limited in Chinese inland, and cottonseed oil and delinting plants mainly purchased Xinjiang-origin cottonseed, but the transportation cost from Xinjiang to other provinces remained high.

With the alleviation of Ukraine-Russia tension around mid-Mar, oil-related products gradually moved down and cottonseed market activity was subdued with prices flat to slightly lower, but cottonseed sources were mainly concentrated in Xinjiang and transportation cost was still high when there were fewer vehicles available for delivery resulting from the epidemic control and prevention as well as rising oil price. By later Mar, Xinjiang-origin cottonseed was sold around 4,250-4,300yuan/mt in Chinese inland.

Cotton linter bolstered by feedstock cost edged up somehow, but the increase was much smaller than that of raw materials without strong demand and the price even slipped before mid-Mar. Cottonseed market became stronger during mid-to-late Mar and cotton linter offers were pushed up accordingly, but there was room for further discussion and the trading mood was not high. For short term view, the price is expected to keep firm when there is support from cost.