Containment measures, unprecedented shifts in the labour market and growing unemployment have led to sharp decreases in textiles and apparel sales as consumer demand has dropped. As containment measures remain across countries, effectively halting the global economy, the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) revised down the global cotton consumption projections 2020/21 to 22.9 mn tonnes, an 11.8 percent decrease from the previous season. With supply chains fractured and consumption demand low, global trade has been revised down to 8.26 mn tonnes. Global area under cotton is expected to decline in 2020/21 by 4 percent to 33 mn hectares.

Source: ICAC Cotton This Month, May, 2020

Bremen Cotton Report, issue No. 17-18/2020