Turkey: Cotton and Products Update
The marketing year MY 2014 Turkish cotton crop is now projected at 430,000 hectares and 700,000 metric tons (MT) (3.2 million bales). While the production is higher, excessive rains during the picking season affected quality adversely in some parts of the GAP region where the majority of local cotton is grown. Domestic cotton consumption increased to 1.38 million metric tons (MMT) (6.33 million bales) in MY 2013 due to an increase in demand from textile and garment exports. Total cotton imports during MY 2013 reached 924,000 MT, (4.2 million bales), an increase of about 15 percent compared to last year, of which 443,000 MT (2 million bales) were US cotton. The government of Turkey (GOT) initiated an antidumping investigation on US cotton exports to Turkey, causing a great disturbance in the Turkish textile industry since Turkey produce less than half of its needs, and about half of the total imports are sourced from the United States.
