Cotton Brazil, an international market development programme for certified Brazilian cotton by the Brazilian Cotton Growers Association (ABRAPA) held its Sellers Mission event in Bangladesh on Tuesday.
Aimed at promoting sustainability while also demonstrating Brazil as a reliable partner of high-quality and traceable cotton, the event agenda focused on Cotton Brazil’s commitment to ensuring short-term, medium, and long-term business continuity through its promotion of Brazilian cotton export.
With the rising cotton prices impacting Asian garment makers, traders, and merchants, the industry is facing a lack of supply with diminishing crop yields amongst top global cotton exporters.
With many Asian countries requiring more imports to overcome domestic shortages, the demand for Brazilian cotton has increased and has accelerated Brazil to become the fourth largest cotton producer and second largest exporter in the market.
Leveraging cutting-edge agricultural technology and adopting a non-irrigation farming practice in more than 90% of farms, Brazil has steadily increased its cotton production from 1.3 million tons in 2015/2016’s crop to approximately 3 million tons in 2019/2020’s crop. As of late April 2022, the agricultural powerhouse has supplied166 thousand tons to Bangladesh.
ABRAPA estimates that the cotton area in Brazil for this year’s crop will amount to 1.58 million hectares, a 15% increase from 2021’s crop. With this increase in the planted area, ABRAPA forecasts a growth of 20% in the 2022 season with a production of 2.82 million tonnes, marking the second-best season for Brazilian cotton in history.
Marcelo Duarte Monteiro, Director of International Relations of ABRAPA said, “While the world is facing a supply-chain crisis and a shortage of cotton globally, Brazil continues to foster business, maintaining its relationship strategies and assuring cotton supply.” Julio Cezar Busato, President of ABRAPA said, “Cotton continues to be a source of environmentally friendly fibre as compared to its synthetic counterparts and remains a staple material for global traders and merchants. However, we are aware of the harmful effects caused from unsustainable cotton growing systems and continue to work towards reducing the environmental impact of cotton farming practices.”
