The recent downward trend is the result of China’s raw cotton import demand, which is projected to decline for the fourth consecutive season in 2015/16.
In its latest report, USDA has projected the global 2015/16 cotton production to decline 6 per cent from the previous season to 111.3 million bales.#
According to USDA, China is expected to import only 6 million bales in 2015/16, compared with an estimated 8 million bales in 2014/15, due to an expected decline in import quotas.
Offsetting a portion of China’s decline are increases for a number of countries, including Vietnam, Turkey, and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, exports in 2014/15 are expected to decrease mainly from the Southern Hemisphere, most notably Brazil and Australia.
Exports from these two countries have been forecast at 3.6 million bales and 2 million bales, respectively, in 2015/16.
Global ending stocks have been forecast at 106.1 million bales by the end of 2015/16, nearly 4 million bales below 2014/15.
While stocks are expected to decline for the first time in six years from last season’s record, they remain more than double the level from 2010/11.
“Despite a rise in cotton consumption, the world stocks-to-use ratio is estimated to decrease only slightly to 92 per cent,” USDA observed. (AR)
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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