After abnormally small exports last year, U.S. cotton shipments are booming this year and are headed for 14 million bales, the fourth-largest volume ever, says USDA’s monthly WASDE report. The U.S. share of the world cotton market would stand at nearly 40 percent, according to USDA, compared to 26 percent in the previous marketing year.
“Higher U.S. market share is indicated in nearly all (major) markets … with an exceptional increase in Taiwan,” said the monthly Cotton: World Markets and Trade report. “The U.S. share of China’s imports has rebounded remarkably from 11 percent last year, the lowest in over two decades, to 35 percent, which is in line with the historical average.”
The farm-gate price for the 2016 cotton crop, now on the market, was estimated at 68 cents per pound by USDA, the highest price in three years. Low prices discouraged growers from planting cotton in 2015, with the result there was a much smaller crop than usual and 2015/16 exports were the smallest in 15 years.