Hurricane Harvey could flatten expected leap in US cotton production
05/09/2017
However, the full impact of the recent hurricane in Texas, where around 45% of US production occurs, is still under assessment.
After four seasons of decline, China’s cotton production is expected to rise by 7% to 5.2 million tonnes and Pakistan’s cotton production is projected to increase by 17% to 2 million tonnes.
In 2017/18, world cotton area is projected to expand by 9% to 31.9 million hectares, and the world average yield is projected to remain unchanged at 789 kg/ha.
With output projected to increase by 4% to 6 million tonnes, India will remain the world’s largest cotton producer in 2017/18.
The Chinese government sold over two million tons from its national cotton reserve from May to August 2017, lowering the reserve to around 6.3 million tonnes.
China’s cotton stocks are forecast to decrease another 16% to 8.9 million tonnes, which would account for 48% of world stocks in 2017/18. Stocks held outside of China in 2017/18 are expected to increase by 22% to 9.6 million tons in 2017/18.
Share this story:
