USDA cuts Bangladesh’s cotton import, use forecast

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has lowered its projection for Bangladesh’s cotton imports, citing reduced domestic use of the key raw material for the textile industry.

The US agency said Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest apparel exporter, is expected to import 79 lakh bales of cotton in the August–July period of the marketing year (MY) 2025-26, down from its previous projection of 80 lakh bales made last month.

The country is expected to use 80 lakh bales of cotton in MY26, down from the earlier estimate of 81 lakh bales, according to the USDA’s report on world cotton markets and trade published on Monday.

The downward revision comes as Bangladesh has recorded a decline in garment exports. The country, which earns more than 80 percent of its annual export earnings from apparel, posted a 3.73 percent year-on-year drop in shipments to $25.79 billion in the July–February period of fiscal year 2025-26.

Knitwear exports fell 4.5 percent to $14.34 billion in the first eight months of the fiscal year ending in June. Woven garment shipments dropped nearly 3 percent to $12.45 billion in the July–February period of FY26.

Meanwhile, the USDA raised its global cotton production forecast by more than 11 lakh bales to 1.21 crore bales as larger crops in Brazil and China more than offset a smaller crop in Argentina.

Global consumption is forecast to fall by more than one lakh bales to 1.18 crore bales due to reduced demand in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico and Vietnam, the report said.