Demand rises on textile industry rebound, crop losses, farming shift
BEIJING - Cotton prices surged to a new record high on Wednesday, fueled by a tight supply and low stockpiles of the fiber in the domestic market.
Cotton for November delivery on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange extended its strong rally on Wednesday by advancing 1.12 percent to settle at 17,030 yuan ($2,494) per ton. Contract prices have accumulatively jumped by more than 7 percent in the past two weeks.
The surge will continue because the supply deficit is of enormous and is expected to last through 2010. Analysts estimate that China will import more cotton to meet domestic demand as China Power Investment Corp, one of the nation's five largest electricity producers, plans to build nuclear plants in southern and northeastern China as domestic energy demand surges, said a company official.
China Power is studying plans to build AP1000 nuclear reactors in the provinces of Jilin, Guangxi and Liaoning, Yu Zhuoping, an adviser at the company, said in an interview today after an industry conference in Beijing.
China Power is competing with rivals including Huaneng Power Group to add nuclear capacity under a government plan to increase the use of alternative fuels to cut pollution and dependence on oil and coal.
China Power plans to build four AP1000 units at its Pengze plant in Jiangxi province, Yu said. Six more units may be added to the Haiyang reactor in Shangdong province, he said.
The company received government approval to start work on Haiyang in 2007. The plant may eventually have eight AP1000 units, compared with six in the original plan, Yu said.
AP1000 reactors use Westinghouse Electric Company LLC's design to generate power.