Analysts predict “flat” cotton sowing in 2012
01/12/2011
But for drought conditions in the southern US this year, the comparative figure for 2012 would show a substantial drop. According to Morgan Stanley, US cotton farmers cultivated 33% more land in 2011 than the year before but the drought restricted the area harvested to four million hectares, 8.4% down on 2010, but in keeping with what the bank is predicting for 2012.
Similarly, China’s most important growing area, Xingjiang Province, which has around 40% of the estimated 5.5 million hectares that the country devotes to producing cotton, is on course produce the same amount of the fibre in 2012 as in 2011. Cotton crops in other parts of China are likely to be lower, though, reflecting what analysts are calling a fall in demand for clothing in developed markets.
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