Cotton prices rose in Brazil in the first fortnight of February, as growers and trading companies remained firm on their selling prices. Between January 31 and February 15, the Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics/Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (Cepea/ESALQ) cotton index rose 1.07 per cent, closing at 2.7832 BRL per pound on February 15.

Since many cotton batches have already been traded through contracts, growers, mainly from Mato Grosso, are now focused on the harvesting of soybean, and are aiming to sow the second crop of cotton within the ideal period, Cepea said in its latest fortnightly report on Brazilian cotton market.

Some trades involving the 2016-17 crop and the next two seasons were closed during the fortnight. However, the gap between bidding and asking prices and the heterogeneous quality of the available batches continued to hamper trades.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s national supply company Conab has upwardly revised the estimated area to be sown with cotton in 2017-18 season to 1.102 million hectares, up from 1.05 million hectares in its January estimate. The latest estimate is 17.4 per cent more compared to the area under cotton in 2016-17 season.

Productivity is likely to be 1,623 kilos per hectare, about 0.04 per cent lower than the previous crop. As a result, cotton production is estimated to increase by 17 per cent compared to the previous season, pegged at 1.79 million tons.

In January 2018, Brazil exported 79,100 tons of cotton, earning $130.3 million with average price of $1,646.50 per ton. (RKS)