High Brazilian and Australian cotton exports, but ordinary U.S. cotton exports

Since 2022/23 season (from Aug 2022), monthly export volumes of Brazilian and Australian cotton were extraordinary high. In Aug and Sep, Australian cotton exports reached 248kt and 215kt respectively, up 125% and 71% year on year, and the data in Aug hit a historical high. The largest buyer was Vietnam, and about half of the cotton was exported to Vietnam. Due to the lack of Chinese market, offers of Australian cotton were basically lower than U.S. cotton previously, similar to the offers of Brazilian cotton. Not only good cotton production, Australian cotton quality was excellent, attracting buyers in Southeast Asia. For Brazilian cotton, despite of the severe drought in Apr and May and frost disaster in mid-May, cotton production is still expected to increase. Export volumes reached 185kt and 260kt in Aug and Sep, up 32% and 28% year on year. According to ABRAPA’s Oct report, 2021/22 Brazilian cotton exports are forecast up to 1.845 million tons, an increase of 445kt or 32% year on year. However, U.S. cotton export growth was limited. In 2022/23 season, exports totaled 634.5kt from Aug to Nov 3, up 29% year on year. The export growth of Brazilian and Australian cotton was obviously higher than U.S. cotton, indicating that they have seized some market shares of U.S. cotton.