Ed.

33

January 19th 2024

1. HIGHLIGHTS
• As of January 11th, 47% of the 2024 cotton crop had been planted in Brazil. Forward
sales are already over 54%.
• In December, Brazilian exports totalled 350.8 thousand tonnes – 100% more than
the volume recorded in the same month of 2022. This resulted in total revenue of US$
684.4 million.
• From January to December 2023, Brazil shipped 1.6 million tonnes. Revenue from
exports totalled US$ 3.07 billion for the year.
• See the “Made in Brazil” section for the quality indicators for the 2023 cotton crop.

*Market Year: Aug-23 to Jul-24

2. STATUS OF BRAZIL'S COTTON CROP

2022 2023 2024 2022 2023 2024 2022 2023 2024

100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 98%

47%

0% 0%

PLANTED HARVESTED GINNED

2022 2023 2024 2022 2023 2024 BCI Supply**

BCI Demand*** (Year to date)

100% 100%
92%
83% 82%
54%

11%

0%
BETTER COTTON
HVI TESTS SALES LICENSED COTTON

* Percentage of cotton sold by growers to merchants ** Better Cotton (BCI) licensed cotton volume in Brazil as
a % of total Brazilian cotton production (2023 Crop year)

***Better Cotton (BCI) units claimed by buyers for the

marketing year to date as a % of total Brazilian cotton
production (Market Year: Aug-23 to Jul-24)
Ed. 33

January 19th 2024

3. 2024 CROP
Abrapa's most recent estimates (Dec/23) indicate that the 2024 cotton crop in Brazil will
be 11.6% greater in planted area (1.967 million hectares) and 3.1% larger in production,
with 3.37 million tonnes.

Area planted with Cotton in Brazil (in million hectares)

1,867
1,618 1,666 1,600 1,673
1,371
+12%

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023* 2024*

Planting season in Brazil starts in November of the previous year

Cotton Lint Production (in million tonnes)

3.27 3.37
2.78 3.00
2.36 2.55

+3.1%

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023* 2024*

Source: Conab *Forecast 2023 e 2024: Abrapa (Dec 23)

If these estimates are confirmed, the average yield for Brazilian cotton will be 1,805 kg/ha
in 2024 – 7.6% below the record rate of 2023.
Ed. 33

January 19th 2024

4. EXPORT SHIPMENTS
In December, Brazil shipped 350.8 thousand tonnes of cotton overseas – exactly double
the volume shipped out in Dec/22 and 38% more than the amount in Nov/23. As a result,
the monthly revenues were US$ 682.4 million.

Volume of Cotton Exported (in 1.000 tons)

370.5 350,8
270.6
100% increase
175.7 compared to
Dec/22
+100%

December 2020 December 2021 December 2022 December 2023

Source: ComexStat – ME, Jan 2024

Brazilian Cotton Top Export Destinations

(Dec/23) in tons
China 219,269 63%
Vietnam 43,170 12%
Bangladesh 31,459 9%
China remains as the
Turkey 18,789 5%
main importer of
Brazilian cotton. With Pakistan 15,375 4%

219 thousand tonnes Indonesia 8,243 2%

shipped there in Malaysia 6,023 2%
December, the country South Korea 5,808 2%
accounted for 63% of the Portugal 0,869 0.2%
total.
Egypt 0,652 0.2%
Others 1,133 0.3%
Total 350,792

Source: ComexStat – ME, Jan 2024

Ed. 33

January 19th 2024

The December figures mean that Brazil has achieved its Second best performance in
accumulated exports from August to December in the last six seasons.

Brazilian cotton exports (in 1.000 tonnes)

2020/21 2022/23 2023/24

400 351
350
(1.000 tonnes)

300
260
254
250
187 269
200 176
226
150 104 185
124

100
43
50
63 76 73
0 61 60 60
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul

Source: ComexStat – ME, Jan/2024. [Market Year: August to July]

Brazilian cotton exports (in 1.000 tonnes)

Total Aug to Dec
3000

2500
2,398 2,400*

1,946
2000
1,683
1,449
1500 1,310

1000 1,212 1,121

1,032 0,952
0,831
500 729

0
2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24

Source: ComexStat – ME, Jan/2024. [Market Year: August to July.] * Forecast

Ed. 33

January 19th 2024

From August to December, Brazil exported 1,121 thousand tonnes, 17.7% higher than
that recorded in the same period of 2022. The second best performance since 2018.
Total revenue in the period reached US$ 2.14 billion.

Total Volume of Cotton Exported (1.000 tons)

1.400
1,212
1.200 1,121

1.000
952
831
800
17.7%

600

400

200

0
Aug/20 to Dec/20 Aug/21 to Dec/21 Aug/22 to Dec/22 Aug/23 to Dec/23

Source: ComexStat – ME, Jan 2024

Brazilian Cotton Top Export Destinations

(Aug/23 to Dec/23) in tons

With 707.7 thousand tonnes China 707.723 63%

imported, China is the Vietnam 111.734 10%

country that has purchased Bangladesh 90.584 8%
the most Brazilian cotton, Turkey 66.205 6%
accounting for 63% of the
Indonesia 51.990 5%
total sold so far. Vietnam
(111.7 thousand tonnes; Pakistan 32.755 3%

10%) and Bangladesh Malaysua 28.011 2%

(90.5 thousand tonnes; 8%) South Korea 14.502 1%
take the next positions in Portugal 6.167 1%
the ranking. Egypt 4.465 0.4%
Others 6.848 1%
Total Geral 1.120.984

Source: ComexStat – ME, Jan 2024

Ed. 33

January 19th 2024

4.1. Export shipments (calendar year)

Analysing the total exports from January to December 2023, we see that Brazil shipped
1.6 million tonnes, 10.3% lower than in 2022. Revenue from exports totalled US$ 3.07
billion for the year.
Total Volume of Cotton Exported (1.000 tons)

2.500
2.125
2.017
2.000 1.804
1.618
1.500

-10.3%
1.000

500

0
Jan/20 to Dec/20 Jan/21 to Dec/21 Jan/22 to Dec/22 Jan/23 to Dec/23

Source: ComexStat – ME, Jan 2024

Brazilian Cotton Top Export Destinations

(Jan/23 to Dec/23) in tons

In the analysis of the China 776.665 48%

calendar year, China Bangladesh 207.785 13%

remains the main Vietnam 201.608 12%
destination for Brazilian Turkey 136.767 8%
cotton, with 776.6 thousand
Indonesia 99.428 6%
tonnes shipped
Pakistan 88.302 5%
representing 48% of the
total. Bangladesh (207.7 Malaysia 45.804 3%
thousand tonnes; 13%) and South Korea 22.019 1%
Vietnam (201.6 thousand 1%
India 11.651
tonnes; 12%) appear in
Portugal 7.674 0.5%
second and third place,
Others 20.473 1%
respectively.
Total Geral 1.618.176

Source: ComexStat – ME, Jan 2024

Ed. 33

January 19th 2024

5. 2023/24 MARKET YEAR EXPORTS AND DOMESTIC USE

The charts below compare the performance of the current market year (2023/24) with the
average Brazilian cotton exports over the last five years and the average volume for
domestic use in Brazil also over the last five years.

2023/24 Export Shipments vs Average % of Accumulated Exports by Anea*

*Brazilian exports for 23/24 estimated at 2.40 million tonnes by Anea

2023/24 5 years avg.

1
88% 93% 97% 100%
82%
74%
0,75 66%
54%

0,5 39%

25%
0,25
3% 12%

4% 12% 22% 32% 47%

0
Aug-23 Sep-23 Oct-23 Nov-23 Dec-23 Jan-24 Feb-24 Mar-24 Apr-24 May-24 Jun-24 Jul-24

Source: MDIC and ANEA

2023/24 Domestic use estimate vs. accumulated domestic use 5-year avg
Domestic consumption estimated at 730 thousand tonnes (Aug23-Jul24)

2023/24 5 years avg.

1
83% 92% 100%
75%
0,75 67%
58%
50%
0,5 42%
33%
25%
0,25 17%
8%

8% 17% 25% 33% 42%

0
Aug-23 Sep-23 Oct-23 Nov-23 Dec-23 Jan-24 Feb-24 Mar-24 Apr-24 May-24 Jun-24 Jul-24

Source: Abrapa, Conab and Abit

Ed. 33

January 19th 2024

6. PRICES
The Cepea indicator closed the month of December at 82.5 US$ cents/pound – which
corresponded to an increase of 3.4%. The average difference between domestic and
international prices reached +41 points in the month.

CEPEA Index versus ICE Futures NY

180
160
(US$ cents/pound)

140
120
100
80
60
40
Apr-22

Aug-22

Aug-22

Sep-22

Oct-22

Nov-22

Dec-22

Apr-23

Aug-23

Sep-23

Oct-23

Nov-23

Dec-23
Jan-22

May-22

Jun-22

Jan-23

May-23

Jun-23
Mar-22

Mar-23
Feb-22

Jul-22

Feb-23

Jul-23
Cepea cents US$/pound ICE cents US$/pound

Cepea Index versus ICE Futures NY

3000
100 points = 1 cent US$/Pound

2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
-500
-1000
May/2022

Jan/2023

May/2023
Jan/2022

Jun/2022

Jun/2023
Apr/2022

Jul/2022

Aug/2022

Sep/2022

Oct/2022

Nov/2022

Dec/2022

Apr/2023

Jul/2023

Aug/2023

Sep/2023

Oct/2023

Nov/2023

Dec/2023
Feb/2022

Mar/2022

Feb/2023

Mar/2023

Compared Indicators (cents/lb)

120 105,1 105,1 107,3

91,6 90,7 94,2 90,8
100 85,5
81,3 81,3 84,9 82,3 80,5 80,5 78,8 82,6 79,6
80
54,5
60
40
20
0
Latest Value (Dec 08) Latest Month (Nov) Last 12 Months (Dec22-Nov23)

Cepea NY Nearby A Index CC Index Indian Spot Pakistan Spot

Source: Cepea/USP and ICE Futures, Jan/2024

The *CEPEA Index is the most commonly used price index for domestic cotton market prices in Brazil.
Ed. 33

January 19th 2024

7. MADE IN BRAZIL
Data and information about Brazilian cotton production

Brazil has achieved significant improvements

in quality indicators for the 2023 crop

On January 11th, Abrapa released the
most recent report on the quality
indicators of Brazilian cotton. The results
reflect quality rating of 92% of the 2023
crop and provide an overall positive view
in terms of improvements.
Among the highlights is the significant
improvement in the short fibre index
(SFI), one of the most crucial indicators
for the importing textile industries. For
this crop, the SFI achieved its best mark
for the last three seasons: 74% of the
cotton had an SFI below 10%. This time,
the more favourable weather contributed
to the result.
Two other indicated also improved
significantly in the 2023 crop: fibre length
(UHML) and uniformity (UI). Both
achieved their best level for the last six
years: 89% and 90%, respectively.
Good rainfall distribution and
investments by farmers are the main
factors that led to this result.

Quality Indicators - 2022/2023 Growing Season

97%
89% 90% 87%
85%
76% 78%

MIC (3,50 - STR (>28g/tex) UHML (>1,11 UI (>80%) SFI (<10%) RD (>75%) +B (<9)
4,90) inches)

Source: Brazilian HVI Laboratories, December 2023

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL QUALITY REPORT