Despite a decrease in production of 5 Mb compared with the preceding year, US cotton shipments have grown by 15.25 million bales this year, says the latest USDA report. China accounted for nearly half of US exports in the first five months with its overall import estimate at 10.5 MB bales, the maximum for seven years.

According to the report, Chinese demand is estimated to rebound by 5.5Mb and hit 38.5Mb in the past year, which account for more than one-third of global usage in 2020-21. China’s demand for US cotton has largely been driven by the SOEs, which accounted for more than 3/4 the overall import of US cotton by 2020/21.

Despite US prices being higher compared to Brazil and India, US sales and shipments to China through December exceeded previous year by more than 2.3Mb. Australia, another significant supplier to China, witnessed exportable supplies decimated by a 2020 drought. Like the US, Australia is a significant supplier of high-quality cotton to the world’s largest importer.