The cotton harvest worldwide will drop by 9 percent this year as growers plant less land because of low market prices for the fiber, says the International Cotton Advisory Council. The intergovernmental body says world trade in cotton will rise slightly as Asian nations import more cotton, offsetting the ongoing downturn in sales to China, the world’s largest importer. After building stockpiles to a high level, China has shifted to a more market-oriented policy that ICAC said would reduce plantings by 12 percent this year, with production falling to 5.4 million tonnes. Chinese consumption was forecast for 7.7 million tonnes, ahead of 5.4 million tonnes in India, the second-largest consumer.
The smaller crop worldwide and uptick in trade will result in the first decline in world stockpiles in five years, a drop of 1 million tonnes, or 0.5 percent. China’s stockpile was forecast by ICAC to fall by 6 percent, to 11.8 million tonnes, which would amount to 56 percent of the world’s reserves and nearly a nine-month supply.