最低限度的棉花免稅進口 中國將減少進口棉花
China will allow only the bare minimum tax-free imports of cotton next year as it tries to come to grips with a mountain of state reserves, adding to the pressure on cotton prices already damped by a bumper US harvest.
正在對付國家儲備過剩的中國明年將只允許最低限度的棉花免稅進口。此舉將加大棉花價格的下行壓力，棉價本已受到美國大豐收的抑制。
China is obliged to allow its mills to import 894,000 tonnes of cotton tax-free every year, under terms negotiated when it joined the WTO. Normally the country’s central planner also issues additional quotas to textile mills, after some delays designed to force them to purchase cotton grown domestically.
根據中國加入世界貿易組織(WTO)時談判達成的條款，中國必須允許國內紡織廠每年免稅進口89.4萬噸棉花。通常中國的中央規劃機構還向紡織廠增發進口配額，而迫使紡織廠購買國產棉花的措施在實施上有一些延遲。For 2015, only the minimum quotas will be issued, Liu Xiaonan, vice-director of the economy and trade department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said yesterday.
國家發改委(NDRC)經貿司副司長劉小南昨日表示，2015年將只發放最低限度的配額。
After three years of buying cotton at above market prices, China is groaning under the weight of reserves it must gradually sell down, while avoiding depressing prices so much that Chinese farmers stop planting cotton altogether.
在連續三年以高於市場價的價格收購棉花後，中國正爲過剩的棉花儲備傷腦筋。政府必須逐漸賣掉過剩的棉花，同時又必須避免大幅壓低棉價，以免中國農民完全停止種植棉花。“All of China’s state reserves are too high. This creates a lot of side effects, the results aren’t good,” said Ma Wenfeng, of Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant.
“中國所有的國家棉花儲備庫都存在過剩。這造成了很多副作用，效果不好，”北京東方艾格農業諮詢公司(Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant)的馬文峯表示。Mills may choose to import without quotas if international prices are low enough to make it profitable after a 40 per cent tax on non-quota imports. That is the case at current prices, even after Chinese cotton futures hit a four-year low yesterday of Rmb12,960 a tonne, equivalent to 96 cents a pound. ICE October cotton futures traded at 65 cents a pound yesterday after hitting a five-year low in August. So far this year cotton prices are down 27 per cent.
紡織廠仍可能選擇在沒有配額的情況下進口棉花，前提是國際棉價足夠低，使得無配額進口在繳付40%的稅後仍可盈利。當前的國際棉價就是這樣的情況，儘管中國期棉價格昨日跌至每噸12960元人民幣（相當於每磅96美分）的四年低點。洲際交易所(ICE)的10月期棉價格昨日爲每磅65美分，8月份一度跌至五年低點。今年以來，棉價累計下跌了27%。
