The latest Department of Agriculture cotton projections for 2023/24 indicate global cotton beginning and ending stocks decreased by approximately ten million bales, 11 percent, from the previous month.
The decrease, however, was largely attributable to a permanent accounting change for Brazil’s production data back to 2000/01. For 2023/24, global cotton ending stocks, at 79.9 million bales, are 2.9 million bales, or 3.5 percent lower than the previous year, as mill use is estimated to exceed production. China accounts for nearly half of global cotton stocks once again in 2023/24, with India, Brazil, and the United States combining for an additional 25 percent.
World cotton production is forecast at 112.6 million bales in 2023/24, 3.2 percent below the previous year, as the global yield is projected to decline. World cotton trade is projected to rise 17 percent in 2023/24, supporting the expected 4.4 percent increase in global cotton mill use to 115.8 million bales.
