Brazil to surpass U.S. as cotton exporter in ‘very near future’
Already the world's leading soybean and corn supplier, Brazil is on track to pass the United States and become the largest cotton exporter in the very near future," said the National Cotton Council, an umbrella organization for the U.S. cotton industry.
Cotton growers make room for more corn and wheat
Battered by drought and rising costs, U.S. cotton growers will devote more of their land to corn, wheat and soybeans — crops that promise higher revenue this year — while sharply reducing their cotton plantings, said a survey released on Sunday. The National Cotton Council said its survey of growers indicated 11.4 million acres will be planted to cotton this spring, 17 percent less than last year.
Smallest U.S. cotton crop in 13 years due to drought
U.S. cotton growers will harvest a drought-shortened crop of 12.57 million bales, their smallest since 2009, according to the USDA's monthly Crop Production report. Texas, the No. 1 producer, would account for nearly all of the nearly 5-million-bale decline in production from last year.
Pandemic casts shadow on sunny cotton outlook
Global demand for cotton would reach an all-time high this year, thanks to the economic resurgence from the pandemic that has driven cotton prices to their highest level in a decade, said the National Cotton Council on Sunday. Despite the sunny outlook, prospects for this year's crop are clouded by rising production costs, supply chain disruptions and uncertainties about future impacts of Covid-19.
Global cotton stockpiles rise as pandemic curtails usage
Between stay-at-home orders and massive job losses due to the coronavirus, consumers are shunning apparel purchases, with the impact being felt all the way to the farm level, said the International Cotton Advisory Council on Monday. (No paywall)
USDA opens enrollment in new cotton subsidy program
Enrollment in a new cotton subsidy program, created by Congress early this year, will run until Dec. 7, said the USDA. The program, offered for so-called seed cotton, allows participants to choose from a pair of subsidy options.
Cotton industry targets Senate limits on farm subsidies
The House and Senate made relatively few changes to the farm program in passing separate versions of the new farm bill. The next step is to reconcile differences in the bills, and the cotton industry's desire to protect its subsidies is just one of a long list of likely flashpoints.
After a flat year, global cotton consumption to rise 3 percent
The rising price of man-made fibers will make cotton more attractive to the apparel industry and boost global cotton consumption by 3 percent this market year, said the International Cotton Advisory Committee.
Cotton prices sink as global production booms
Cotton production is rising in all of the major nations growing the fiber, and the United States is leading the way with a 23-percent increase, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee. The large crop, forecast by ICAC as 10-percent larger than in 2016/17, will drive down the season-average price to 69 cents a pound, a drop of 14 cents.
Uptick in global cotton crop will flatten prices
The prevailing high prices for cotton “are expected to encourage farmers to expand the area under cotton by 5 percent, to 30.8 million hectares, in 2017/18,” says the International Cotton Advisory Committee.
Weaker cotton prices will encourage global consumption, says ICAC
Global cotton consumption may rise 1 percent in the upcoming 2017/18 trade year and stay well ahead of the cotton harvest as the world whittles down a surplus of the fiber, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee. If so, the cotton stockpile would decline 1.3 million tonnes, or 7 percent, in the year ahead.
U.S. growers to plant more cotton despite tight margins
Cotton growers say they will expand plantings 9 percent this year, displacing corn and some wheat to chase the highest market price in four years, says the National Cotton Council. Nonetheless, "2017 is shaping up to be another challenging year," said NCC economist Jody Campiche, because of high production costs and the struggling global economy.
A growing list of clothing companies vows to stop destroying rainforests
Ralph Lauren Corp. joins a growing number of fashion companies that have pledged to not use products derived from cleared forests or that required grabbing land from indigenous people, says Reuters. The company says it has new plans to track its sourcing and avoid parts of the world that practice extreme deforestation and human rights abuses.