New Data Shows Global Transportation Issues Might Be Improving

For Immediate Release

Date Posted: 1 April 2022

Executive Summary

Highlights from the April 2022 Cotton This Month include:

  • Data regarding US cotton exports indicate the logistics situation is improving worldwide
  • While a positive sign worthy of optimism, the USA has capabilities that many other countries don’t so the rest of the world might recover more slowly
  • Production is down slightly from the previous report but is holding at 26.43 million tonnes
  • Global consumption is currently being reported at 26.16 million tonnes

New Data Shows Global Transportation Issues Might Be Improving

Don’t look now, but global cotton logistics might be starting to sort themselves out after a long and painful struggle through the Covid pandemic. We can’t yet say with 100% certainty that things are going to improve in the immediate future because the conclusions were drawn solely from US export data. The USA has greater means to effect changes than most other countries so not all regions will recover as quickly, but it remains the world’s largest exporter and thus can serve as a sort of ‘canary in the coal mine’ for worldwide cotton shipping and logistics.
Consumption remains strong as we approach the end of the 2021/22 season. Global consumption is currently being reported at 26.16 million tonnes. Production is down slightly from the previous report but is holding at 26.43 million tonnes, still sufficient to accommodate consumption. If we look at the total global supply and demand numbers we do see a minor deficit in supply. Global supply is currently sitting at 57.129 million tonnes while global demand is 57.133 million tonnes.
The Secretariat’s current price forecast of the season-average A index for 2021/22 ranges from 106 cents to 126 cents, with a midpoint at 113 cents per pound.

Cotton This Month is published at the beginning of the month with the Cotton Update published mid-month. The Cotton Update, which is included in the Cotton This Month subscription, is a mid-month report with updated information on supply/demand estimates and prices. The next Cotton Update will be released on 15 April 2022. The next Cotton This Month will be released on 2 May 2022.

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Please contact the author, ICAC Data Scientist Matthew Looney, with questions on this report.

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About the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC)
Formed in 1939, the ICAC is an association of cotton producing, consuming and trading countries. It acts as a catalyst for change by helping member countries maintain a healthy world cotton economy; provides transparency to the world cotton market by serving as a clearinghouse for technical information on cotton production; and serves as a forum for discussing cotton issues of international significance. In addition, members can take advantage of the ICAC’s global network of cotton researchers, whose expertise covers the supply chain from farm to textile manufacturing, and have free access to its cutting-edge technologies like the voice-based app and virtual technology cotton training programme. Committed to ensuring cotton’s continued sustainability, the ICAC is the only intergovernmental commodity body covering cotton that is recognised by the United Nations. For more information, please visit www.icac.org, Twitter or LinkedIn.