Recent data on US cotton exports indicate the logistics situation is improving worldwide. While a positive sign worthy of optimism, the United States has capabilities that many other countries don’t, and therefore, the rest of the world might recover at a slower pace, according to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), an association of cotton producing, consuming and trading countries.
“We can’t yet say with 100 percent certainty that things are going to improve in the immediate future because the conclusions were drawn solely from US export data. The USA has greater means to effect changes than most other countries so not all regions will recover as quickly, but it remains the world’s largest exporter and thus can serve as a sort of ‘canary in the coal mine’ for worldwide cotton shipping and logistics,” ICAC said.
US cotton production is down slightly from the previous report, but is holding at 26.43 mn tonnes. Global consumption is currently being reported at 26.16 mn tonnes as the end of the 2021-22 season approaches—still sufficient to accommodate consumption.
If the total global supply and demand numbers are taken into account, a minor deficit is seen in supply. Global supply is currently sitting at 57.129 mn tonnes, while global demand is 57.133 mn tonnes.
