The consumption of cotton in Bangladesh may remain unchanged in the year from August 2022 to July 2023 owing to lower-than-expected imports, said the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently.
According to the US agency, cotton imports by Bangladesh were likely to be 8.4 million bales during the period, down from its previous forecast of 8.5 million bales.
Moreover, the second-biggest garment exporting country will use 8.5 million bales, it observed in its latest report on world markets and trade of cotton released earlier this month.
The agency lowered its forecast on global cotton production by 3.1 million bales to 117 million bales in the marketing year 2022-23 owing to an output decline in the US.
It also predicted a drop in global use, inventory stocks at the year’s end as well as global trade.
It also forecasts lower imports for India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Vietnam.
It said Bangladesh’s imports declined in the same period between 2021 and 2022 along with that of China and Pakistan.
Bangladesh imported 7.9 million bales of cotton, down 9% from 8.7 million tonnes in the preceding period.
US textiles shoppers are likely to see a lot more microfiber products on the shelves over the coming year as US cotton prices surge once again.
The culprit is a drought sweeping US cotton-producing regions.
The USDA reported that approximately 66% of cotton production in the US is experiencing drought, and agricultural forecasters are predicting farmers will abandon 40% of the more than 12 million acres currently planted with cotton.
The result will be the lowest cotton harvest since 1868.
Not since the United States was recovering from the Civil War will the country have produced so little cotton.
Cotton prices have been spiking above the alarming “cotton crisis” era of 2010-11, in part due to a mega-drought in Texas, which produces approximately half of the cotton grown in the US.
Cotton prices opened at $1.20 per pound today, up steeply from $0.94 a year ago, but down a bit from its most recent peak at $1.22 last week.
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