Industry association the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) has confirmed that brands and retailers are cancelling orders, leaving spinners and textile manufacturers, especially in Asia, in “financial crisis”.

It has reduced its estimate of what the global consumption of cotton will be in 2019-2020 has been revised downward to 24.6 million tonnes, although it continues to think that global production for the season will be 25.9 million tonnes.

“Millions of people are self-isolating and the cotton and textile business is at a virtual standstill,” the Washington DC-based organisation said.