Agriculture
Global cotton yields expected to decline─── 15:19 Thu, 06 Apr 2017
Bloemfontein - Although the hectares under cotton production across the world are expected to increase this year, lower anticipated yields mean that global cotton production is only expected to increase 1%.
This is according to the latest Cotton SA market report.
It says according to the International Cotton Advisory Committee, ICAC, about 4% more cotton hectares are expected to be planted for 2017/18. However, the average yield is expected to decline by 2% to 761 kg/ha, resulting in a global production forecast of just over 23 million tons.
The ICAC is also projecting a 3% increase in global cotton trade for the current marketing year, with this set to increase a further 3% in 2017/18. This is mainly due to increased cotton imports by Bangladesh and Vietnam, the world's largest cotton importers.
In the local outlook, Cotton SA has revised its estimate downwards by 1% for a total crop of just over 74 000 lint bales. This is, however, still 47% higher than the crop produced in the previous season.
Source: Cotton SA