The U.S. cotton 2021/22 supply and demand forecasts are unchanged from last month. The marketing year price received by upland cotton producers is projected at a record 91 cents per pound, up 1 cent, reflecting recent high prices. The February 2022 upland farm price reached a record 100 cents per pound.
Month-to-month changes in the global 2021/22 cotton estimates are also small, with higher production and lower consumption resulting in an 800,000-bale increase in ending stocks, to 83.4 million.
Production is forecast 340,000 bales higher, with increases for Pakistan and Greece. A 500,000-bale decline in China’s expected consumption resulted in a similar decline in the global estimate, which now stands at 124.1 million. A 300,000-bale decline in both China’s and Pakistan’s import forecasts are only partly offset by a 150,000-bale increase for Turkey.
World trade is projected about 450,000 bales lower this month, with exports projected lower for India, Brazil, and Malaysia.