Vietnamese demand buoys US cotton but declines forecast
US cotton exports in the year between August 2024 and July 2025 reached 11.9 million bales, nearly 200,000 above the previous year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
This is despite exports to China falling over 4 million bales.
Vietnam was the most important market in boosting US shipments, as they more than doubled to over 3 million bales, one-quarter of total US shipments.
US exports to Pakistan rose 1 million bales compared with the previous year to 2.2 million, one-fifth of total US shipments.
However, the outlook for 2025-2026 does not look as rosy. The forecast for global production has been lowered more than 1.8 million bales to 116.6 million with smaller crops in the US, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Mali. US production is expected to be 13.2 million on smaller area harvested. China’s production is expected to rise 500,000 bales to 31.5 million due to higher yields.
