Cotton prices almost 50% below May levels
Cotton market information resource Cotlook has said in its market report for October that a gloomy macro-economic outlook is weighing on much of the market.
Its index price-point for one pound (in weight) of cotton reached 89.5 US cents by the end of the month, the lowest value since August 2021 and 48% down on the price in May this year.
It said consumer confidence was low in many of the world’s major economies. Spinners have complained of slow orders and of rising yarn inventories. Mills in many places have delayed taking delivery of cotton bought at higher prices earlier in the year. “Mill demand was at a low ebb for much of the period in view,” Cotlook said.
There were exceptions. Mills in Pakistan and, to some extent, in Bangladesh too showed “a fairly consistent demand for lots available nearby”, although as October progressed, Cotlook began to interpret this as an attempt by some of these mills to lower the average cost of their inventories rather than “in response to any noteworthy improvement in the business climate”.
Cotlook also reported that, so far, downstream trade data have so far “largely failed to convey the stagnation reported from all levels of the mill sector”. As an example, it pointed out that Bangladesh’s earnings from ready-made garment exports during October were “robust at $3.7 billion”.
