Global : Cotton supply & demand forecasts show higher production

This month’s U.S. 2007/08 cotton supply and demand estimates include higher production and ending stocks. Production is raised nearly 3 percent to 17.8 million bales, as higher production in Texas is partially offset by reductions in the Southeast and Delta. Domestic mill use and exports are unchanged. Ending stocks are raised 7 percent to 6.2 million bales.
The world 2007/08 supply and demand forecasts show higher production, which is nearly offset by lower beginning stocks. Beginning stocks are reduced mainly in China and India due to adjustments in the trade estimates for 2006/07.
World production is raised 1 percent, as larger crops in Brazil, Pakistan, the United States, and India are partially offset by lower production in the African Franc Zone, Turkey, Tanzania, and Syria.
World trade is reduced due mainly to a 1.0-million-bale reduction in imports by China, which is based both on lower consumption and a slower-than-anticipated pace of imports prior to the 2007-crop harvest. World ending stocks of 51.6 million bales are virtually unchanged from last month.