Cotton imports to Bangladesh may drop in the current marketing year (MY22) of June 2021 to May 2022 despite a rise in its consumption by the garment industry, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which said in a recent report that spinners may be inclined to use more cotton from their stock instead of import as cotton price is shooting up.

USDA said cotton imports in the country may fall to 8.2 million bales in the MY22 from 8.75 million in the MY21.

"Due to the high international price of cotton, local spinning mills will consume more out of stocks," said the report.

Referring to the rise in domestic cotton consumption, which rose by 23 per cent in MY21, the USDA report also projected that in MY22, cotton consumption may increase to 8.81 million bales.

But Bangladeshi media reports say local cotton importers disagree with the prediction though they agree with the estimated rise in cotton consumption. Spinning mills have to keep a security stock of cotton to avert any future uncertainty, they say.

Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) chief executive officer Monsoor Ahmed told a newspaper that as a number of spinning mills are expanding operations, that will drive more import. He, however, questioned how the USDA was sure of the actual stock of cotton with the factories.