According to the February global production demand forecast released by the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. cotton exports will decrease slightly in 2021/22, and ending stocks will increase month-on-month. U.S. cotton production and domestic cotton consumption remained unchanged, while exports were reduced by 250,000 bales to 14.75 million bales due to shipping delays due to logistics issues. The average farm price for upland cotton remained at 90 cents, unchanged from last month.
In 2021/22, global cotton ending stocks were reduced by 700,000 bales from the previous month, mainly due to a decrease of 800,000 bales in cotton production. This month, India’s cotton production has been reduced by 500,000 bales due to the slow pace of new cotton coming to market, indicating that the yield per unit area is lower than expected. At the same time, Tanzania’s output was reduced by 345,000 bales. Global cotton opening stocks increased by 240,000 bales month-on-month because revisions to historical data in previous years led to an increase in global opening stocks. Global cotton consumption increased by 200,000 bales month-on-month, while cotton imports decreased by 120,000 bales. This was due to a decrease of 250,000 bales in China’s imports, which partially offset the increase in India’s imports. In addition, reduced cotton exports from the United States, Brazil and India were partially offset by increased exports from Australia.
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