Cotton Highlights from March WASDE Report

By Jim Steadman|March 10, 2023

USDA has released its March 2023 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. Here’s this month’s summary for cotton:

This month’s 2022/23 U.S. cotton supply and demand forecasts are unchanged relative to last month. The projected marketing year average price received by producers is also unchanged at 83 cents per pound.

The global 2022/23 cotton supply and demand forecasts this month include lower consumption and trade, and higher production and stocks. Beginning stocks are almost 900,000 bales higher as historical consumption estimates for China and Uzbekistan are updated to align with data from official and other sources.

World cotton consumption in 2022/23 is 555,000 bales lower this month with reductions in Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Projected imports are lower for each of these countries – and for China – while exports are lower for Brazil, India, and Argentina, with world trade totaling 785,000 bales lower.

Production is more than 700,000 bales higher as larger expected crops in China, Australia, and Uzbekistan more than offset reduced prospects for India. At 91.1 million bales, 2022/23 world ending stocks are projected 2.1 million higher than a month earlier and 5.0 million higher than in 2021/22.