ICAC Predicts 12% Decrease In 2008/09 Cotton Trade

Avatar for Matt Hopkins By Andrea Klosterman Harris|9 December 2008

China is expected to make up most of the decrease with imports anticipated to fall 24% to 8.7 million bales, according to ICAC. World production is expected to decline from 120.5 million to 113 million bales, partially due to the reduction in US cotton acreage and unfavorable fluctuations in exchange rates.

“In particular, production is expected to fall by 30 percent in the United States to 2.9 million tons (13.3 million bales),” said the ICAC, an association of governments of cotton producing and consuming countries. “Production is also projected down significantly in Turkey and Brazil but could increase in India, Pakistan and Australia.”