Cotton spinners in Japan continue to relocate their spinning capacities to overseas joint venture textiles as domestic demand declines. As per a Textile Network report, in FY 2020-21 Japan’s cotton imports declined 34 per cent to 31,570 tons from 47,790 tons in 2019-20. The decline is mainly attributed to a stagnant demand and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Main sourcing destinations were the United States, followed by Greece, Australia and Brazil. Imports from the US declined 39 per cent to 16,300 tons, accounting for 52 per cent of Japan’s total imports. Imports from Australia declined 45 per cent to 3,700 tons. On the other hand, imports from Brazil declined 45 per cent to 2,800 tons. In contrast, imports from Turkey surged by 125 per cent to 1,500 tons.

The US, Australia, Greece and Brazil accounted for 89 per cent of Japan’s total imports in 2020-21. Japan’s cotton consumption in 2020/21 declined to 31,600 tons as demand stagnanted demand and COVID-19 caused several disruptions in supply.