In February 2018, cotton imports of Vietnam reached 111.4kt, down 5.9% year on year and 22.5% month on month. Tet Festival in Feb influenced the imports and exports. For import origins, the Brazilian cotton imports increased a significant high of 232% year on year to reach 18.4kt, mainly due to the improvement on cotton demand in Vietnam. Buyers prefer to purchase Brazilian cotton with its relatively good quality this year.
1. Cotton imports rise
Vietnam exported $1.63 billion textile and apparel in February 2018, up 17.5% year on year, but down 34.6% month on month. The exports totaled $4.121 billion during January and February, up 16.29% year on year. Influenced by the Tet holiday, exports decreased a lot from January, but the yearly growth was obvious.
Cotton imports of Vietnam in February approached 111.4kt, down 5.9% year on year and 22.5% month on month and the accumulative imports from January to February were 255.2kt, up 19.9% year on year. Due to Tet holiday in February, the comparability of yearly change was low, but February in 2016 also experienced the holiday, and the cotton imports increased by 50.4%, showing rapid cotton textile industry development in Vietnam.
2. Brazilian cotton imports keep up
The large increase of Brazilian cotton imports has changed the import structure of Vietnam. Indian cotton imports decreased by 45% year on year and 62% month on month. According to our analysis, it was mainly because of the quality issue. Based on the feedback of Chinese cotton users, quality of Brazilian cotton has improved much this season, while Indian cotton quality was affected obviously due to flood and insect damage during the growing period. The development of textile industry in Vietnam requires higher demand for cotton in spinning.
3. Summary
In general, cotton imports of Vietnam are affected much by the Tet holiday in February. Imports of Brazilian cotton continue to see high increase, mainly because of the higher demand for cotton quality.