USDA: World Cotton Production Down 4%

Global cotton production for 2012-2013, is estimated at 119.7 million bales, down 4% from a year earlier, as this month’s USDA reduction for Brazil’s crop is partially offset by an increase for the U.S. Declining production is largely driven by a market environment that favored the cultivation of competing alternatives.

Global harvested cotton area is estimated at 34.2 million hectares, down 4% from the preceding year. Global yield is estimated at 763 kg/hectare. Brazil’s crop is estimated at 5.8 million bales, a decline of 33% from the preceding year and an 8% (500,000 bales) reduction from the previous month.

Record soybean and corn prices, disease outbreak, and erratic precipitation are expected to lower the crop in Bahia and Mato Grosso, which together account for over 80 percent of Brazil’s total annual cotton production. The U.S. is expected to produce 17.3 million bales in 2012/13, a 2% increase from the previous month’s estimate and 11% higher than the previous year’s crop.