Globecot launches joint infomation venture
By Zhang Jin (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-07-05 10:36

The world's leading cotton information provider Globecot Inc and China's major cotton information portal China Cotton Information Centre (CNCIC) have established a 50-50 joint venture (JV) in China, as part of an effort to penetrate the lucrative Chinese market.

"We have also decided to open an office in Beijing in August," said Ed Jernigan, Globecot chairman and chief executive officer.

Globecot will send representatives from its United States headquarters to China.

The JV will offer international and Chinese cotton information in both English and Chinese.

The JV plan is part of a package agreement reached by two firms last week, which also includes information swapping and news releases.

The two parties will also launch the Globecot-CNCOTTON International Cotton Price Index, based on Asian and Pan-Pacific markets, in August. The index will be a "thermometer" of the world's cotton prices, Jernigan said.

The five-year-old CNCIC is the only organization designated by the government to release national cotton price indexes.

Globecot's intelligence network covers more than 20 countries and regions.

The marriage between Globecot and CNCIC will undoubtedly help the US giant further explore the Chinese cotton intelligence market and paves the way for it to offer consulting services in China, analysts say.

As the world's largest cotton consumer and leading textile exporter, China has seen an increasing demand for international information to better secure the prospects of its textile and fiber industries, said Lei Xiangju, general manager of CNCIC's parent company China National Cotton Reserves Corp.

And China is playing a bigger role in shaping global cotton prices. Lei said it was equally important for the world to have wider access to information about the nation's cotton market.

Based on such factors, she said co-operation with Globecot is a win-win deal.

Commenting on China's cotton pricing system, Jernigan said cotton prices in China are now freely subjected to the market supply-demand interactions.

"The Chinese cotton market is all the more conjunctive to the global market," he said, adding the resumption of the cotton futures in China in April was another big improvement in integrating the country into the world cotton industry.

Jernigan believes Chinese textile firms have reason to be optimistic about their prospects after multi-fibre quotas are eliminated in 2005.

"Surely, China's share in the world's textile market will increase when the quota expires," he said.

However, he cautioned, decreasing apparel prices in the global market could affect Chinese firms' profitability.

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