Cottco Holdings is sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest cotton company. It is seeking partnership to help in funding and reorganising its debt. The company, based in Zimbabwe, operates five ginneries in the southern African country with an annual processing capacity of 1,50,000 metric tons of seed cotton. Zimbabwe has about 2,00,000 cotton farmers.

It posted a loss of $10 million in the six months ended September 30 as the national harvest fell as some farmers switched to other crops with the international price of cotton falling 21 per cent over the past year.

As of September 30 the company had borrowings of $58 million and it applied to be placed under judicial management the next month. Trade in its shares on the Zimbabwe stock exchange was suspended. Cottco, which started as the Cotton Marketing Board in 1969, was sold to private investors in 1994 and began trading on the bourse in 1997.

Zimbabwe’s cotton crop is expected to plunge to between 90,000 and 1,00,000 tons this year from 1,45,000 tons last year. Some farmers have reduced their cotton growing area and moved to other crops including tobacco and soybeans. Increase in acreage for other crops has been higher in areas with generally higher average rainfall.

cottcoholdings.com/