Brazil maintained its status as the world’s second-largest cotton exporter in 2023 despite last year´s drop of 10 percent in cotton production.
“Brazil exported 1.617 million tons in the previous year and in the process generated export revenues of US $3.06 billion,” according to figures released by the Brazilian Cotton Growers Association (Abrapa)
“The 2022/23 crop was affected by adverse weather conditions, so we had a smaller volume to export. The global scenario was also challenging for cotton,” Abrapa President Alexandre Schenkel said.
According to Schenkel, two ongoing conflicts, the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine war, have affected the global economy.
“This has led to instability in the international markets resulting in upward trends both in inflation and interest rates, slowing down the economies of several countries,” he added.
“The result was a drop in demand for cotton, with textile mills operating at a lower rate throughout 2023 and so imported lesser cotton,” Schenkel observed.
Seventy-four percent of cotton exports, or 1.19 million tons in 2023, occurred in the second half of 2023, exceeding the volume recorded in 2022 by 24 percent.
In addition to being the second-largest exporter, Brazil became the third-largest cotton producer in the world in the previous season.
