US cotton export sales saw a strong start to the new marketing year, MY25-26, which began on August 1. For the week ending August 7, net sales of Upland cotton increased to 242,000 running bales (RB), with each bale weighing 500 pounds (226.8 kg) from the 109,300 RB sold the previous week.

According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the primary buyers of Upland cotton were Vietnam (119,200 RB), Bangladesh (40,200 RB), Türkiye (20,700 RB), Pakistan (15,600 RB), and Mexico (14,100 RB). A small reduction of 300 RB was noted for Thailand. For the next MY26-27, net sales of 1,100 RB were made to Japan.

Export shipments for the week totaled 142,600 RB, with the largest volumes sent to Vietnam (34,800 RB), Pakistan (26,200 RB), Türkiye (19,300 RB), Mexico (9,300 RB), and Bangladesh (9,000 RB). Looking back at the previous marketing year, 2024-25, accumulated shipments amounted to 11,191,200 RB, marking a 1 per cent increase over the preceding year.

Sales of Pima cotton also increased to 2,100 RB for MY 2025-26. The main buyers included India (2,400 RB), Türkiye (300 RB), South Korea (300 RB), Bangladesh (300 RB), and Guatemala (100 RB). Reductions for China (1,300 RB) offset some of these sales.

Pima cotton export shipments for the week were 12,000 RB, primarily to Pakistan (2,700 RB), Vietnam (2,500 RB), India (2,300 RB), Costa Rica (900 RB), and Egypt (900 RB). Accumulated Pima cotton shipments for the last marketing year were 435,000 RB, a 35% increase from the previous year.