In this anxiety-provoking environment, a new WASDE report has been published, revealing that production is doing well, particularly in the United States and China, and that consumption is expected to stagnate, giving investors a bleak outlook for the current season. 

These figures are being published in a very contrasting environment on the ICE, with speculation and a significant open position, and on call contracts still to be priced. The season lows for the December 25 maturity were reached and exceeded against a backdrop of rollover to the March 26 maturity. But behind this technical jargon lies another reality: 

• - The financial markets are trading below cost price, how long can this last? 
• - Will the destabilisation caused by the trade war spread, or will a new equilibrium be created? 
• - How long will the US domestic financial market be able to dictate prices to the rest of the world without any other market emerging, given that Brazil will soon be producing 5 million tonnes? 

But everything is changing. Even the rickshaws that swarm the streets of Dhaka are now mostly electric, which is easier on the drivers' calves. 

We know that if Bangladesh, where this article is being written, catches a cold, the whole of Africa will cough, and the situation for spinners there is still very tense: 

• - Banks are experiencing an unprecedented crisis; foreign exchange reserves are inversely proportional to bad debts, and mistrust of the textile industry is exacerbated. 
• - Spinning mills are running out of steam and reducing production due to a lack of outlets in a depressed yarn market, which has wiped out the last remaining buyers not covered for the end of the year. 
• - The political situation remains uncertain in the run-up to the February 2026 elections.

Customs duties have undermined any confidence we might have had in a brighter future. However, the return of growth and the end of the trade war, which has been announced so many times, should still make the beginning of 2026 more encouraging.