Brazil: Cotton and Products Update

Post forecasts 2021/22 planted cotton area at 1.52 million hectares (ha), with production at 12.6 million bales (2.74 million metric tons – MMT), more than a 10 percent greater than the 2020/21 estimated production of 10.68 million bales (2.33 MMT). Cotton area is forecast to rise because of timely first-season soybean planting, high prices, and very good profitability compared to alternative crops. Post forecasts that Brazil’s domestic cotton consumption will come in at 3.2 million bales for 2021/22 (697 thousand MT), as compared to the estimated 3.1 million bales (665 thousand MT) for the previous MY. Post revised down the 2021/22 marketing year export forecast to 8.5 million bales (1.85 MMT) on slower demand from China, which represents a decrease of over 20 percent on the current season export estimate of 11 million bales (2.4 million metric tons).