In 2013, Cameroon exported 66,000 tons of cotton to China, showing a decline of 7.3 percent year-on-year, according to the statistics released by Commodafrica, Business in Cameroon reported.

Cameroon’s cotton exports to China accounted for 32 percent of the country’s total cotton production, as Société de développement du Coton (Sodecoton or Cotton Development Corporation) announced the total cotton production during last season at 210,000 tons.

Despite the decline in cotton exports to China, Cameroon remained the second-largest cotton exporter to China, behind Burkina Faso, which also witnessed a 2.4 percent year-on-year drop in its exports in 2013, totaling 95,000 tons.

Exports of cotton from other African countries to China also dropped in 2013, with exports from Mali, Zambia, Egypt and Benin declining by 50 percent year-on-year, 37 percent, 26 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

For 2014, Sodecoton has set a target of producing 240,000 tons of cotton in 2014. In order to achieve the set target the company is planning quick purchase of cotton produce from farmers this year, in order to restrain them from selling their produce in Nigeria.