The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projections indicate that world 2013/14 cotton production is forecast at 118.0 million bales, a 3-percent decrease from a year ago due to less favorable market conditions. Production decreases in major cotton growers such as China and the United States are expected to more than offset increases in others such as Brazil and India.

Brazil is forecast to produce 7.0 million bales in 2013/14, up 21 percent from a year earlier. India and Pakistan are forecast to produce 28.0 million bales and 9.5 million bales in 2013/14, up 6 percent and 2 percent, respectively, from the preceding year.

Availability of new information necessitated a revision in India’s 2013/14 crop estimate in July to 28.0 million bales, up 1.0 million bales from the previous month. India’s 2013/14 harvested area is forecast at 12.0 million hectares, up 2 percent from the preceding year but unchanged from the previous month.

China—the world’s largest cotton producer—is forecast to produce 34.0 million bales in 2013/14, down 3 percent from the previous year, as China’s official domestic price support policy appears insufficient to motivate expanded production. The United States is expected to produce 13.5 million bales in 2013/14, down 22 percent from the previous year due to lower planted area across all regions and severe drought affecting production in the Southwest.

Australia’s 2013/14 crop of 4.5 million bales is now forecast to decline only 2 percent from a year ago due to this month’s 300,000-bale increase in the 2012/13 estimate. Global cotton harvested area is forecast at 33.7 million hectares in 2013/14, down 2 percent from the preceding year, while global yield is forecast at 762 kg/hectare.