Australia set for bumper cotton crop

10 December 1999



Australia set for bumper cotton crop

AUSTRALIA is getting ready to deliver its second-largest cotton crop in 1999/2000 – but returns are likely to be low because prices have nose-dived.

The the Raw Cotton Market Advisory Committee forecasts the 1999/2000 crop will be 3.13 million 480lb bales, compared with a record 3.24m 480lb bales last year.

But it will be coming into a market which has seen prices fall because of supplies from Pakistan, China, the USA and soon Asia.

Cotton values have dropped over recent weeks by renewed US export subsidies, which have heightened price competition in the oversupplied market.

• Cotton prices under pressure, FWi, 12 November, 1999
• Australia expects record cotton crop, FWi, 15 July, 1999
• Financial Times 10/12/99 page 36