La competitividad del algodón colombiano frente a los principales países productores mediante el enfoque de costos de producción

Abstract

This paper studies the competitiveness of cotton production in Colombia through a comparative analysis of the patterns of production costs in the producing regions of Colombia in relation to the main producers of cotton fiber. The basic information for this study is based on statistics taken mostly from Conalgodon, producer organizations and the textile industry. Economic statistics and estimates measurement techniques by the method of ordinary least squares (OLS) were used, especially for estimating the functions of supply and demand. For the analysis of competitiveness, the unit production cost of Colombia was compared against other countries producing cotton fiber. The results show, on the one hand, that the production of short fiber in Colombia is likely to increase and to dedicate more areas to such type of crops given the growing trend of demand from the industry, which exceeds right now the spinning rings or long-fiber; and on the other hand, the results show that under the current conditions the country is not producing cotton in a competitive way and therefore the component of imported cotton is growing over time