Global cotton stocks in 2016/17 will drop to their lowest level since 2011/12, as China continues to reduce the surplus supplies, accumulated during the 2011-14 seasons. The latest US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report estimates 2016/17 world cotton ending stocks to decline 10 per cent, from the previous season to 87.3 million bales. According to USDA, with more than 12 million bales of cotton sold from China’s national reserve in 2016, and plans to resume sales beginning in March 2017, China is reducing stock levels that have affected the global cotton market in recent years. Despite progressively reducing cotton stocks, China’s stocks at the end of 2016/17 at 48 million bales are forecast to account for 55 per cent of the world total. Stocks in India projected at 11 million bales, or about 13 percent of the total, while US cotton stocks are expected to account for 5 per cent of global stocks, while supplies in the rest of the world stand at 27 per cent.
