Australia's cotton industry virtually sold out of 2021 cotton: CA

Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay said, “The sustained demand shows there is still strong interest in our premium cotton. There is no doubt that China was a vital trading partner for us, and we hope that they will be again, but we needed to secure sales for our top-quality cotton and that’s what our merchants have done.”

Last year’s crop was 2.8 million bales and with the help of a grant from the Federal Government under the Agricultural Trade and Market Access Cooperation (ATMAC) programme, word is getting out.

Michael O’Rielley, chair of the Australian Cotton Shippers Association said the efforts of all their members have paid dividends and the grant will only assist in marketing Australian cotton across all available export markets. “Twelve months on I think things are looking positive. We are not without our challenges but there’s life after China – there really is. We are still fielding enquiries for the 2021 crop however we are all but sold out. If we could get more bales, we would sell them because the demand is certainly there.”

O’Rielley said Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh and India have all been supportive with Indonesia having the most immediate potential. “Right now, Vietnam is our biggest export market followed by Indonesia which currently has the most upside. They are our closest neighbour, and we have short shipping times. We are a lot more competitive in terms of price, and we can land it there quickly for an industry operating in a ‘just-in-time’ environment.”

Turkey re-entered the market recently purchasing volumes of Australian cotton not seen for several years while Pakistan would order more if shipping issues could be resolved. “The pandemic has increased prices and competition for containers while shipping lines are more selective, choosing ports with easy access. Once we have secured shipping, we can land bales in Asia in two weeks compared to 8 to 12 weeks for the US and Brazil,” O’Rielley added.

Kay said Australia’s cotton is known for its sustainability and high-quality, on top of its reputation for being one the least foreign matter contaminated fibres in the world, resulting in better productivity. “Many of our farmers have already secured contracts for their cotton on the futures market and that gives us a great start to the sales campaign for this season. We sell every bale we produce and 2022 will be no different.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)