World cotton production in 2006/07 is forecast about unchanged from the year before, at 115 million bales. Consumption is forecast about 5 million bales higher than the year before, at 122 million.
Accordingly, 2006/07 global cotton ending stocks are expected to be about 5 million bales lower than in 2005/06, at 46.7 million bales. World trade, at 43 million bales, is forecast about the same as in 2005/06.
World consumption is expected to grow 4.1 percent in 2006/07, down substantially from the gains of the previous 2 years but still very large compared with only a few years ago.
Between 1989 and 2001, world consumption never grew more than 2.6 percent in any given year, and typically grew less than 1 percent.
US Department of Agriculture
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