The May 2020 edition of Cotton This Month states that due to the global economy being paralysed and supply chains shattered, global cotton consumption is projected to decline by 11.8 per cent, reducing global trade to 8.26 million tonnes in 2019/20.
According to the report, while there is hope for a vaccine or cure, or that warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere will minimise COVID”s impact, there can be no real economic recovery unless there is a health recovery first. Whether or not, we sink into a worldwide depression — a long recession with unemployment reaching as high as 33 per cent — will be determined by the effectiveness of government policies.
In 2020/21, global area is projected to decrease by 4 per cent to 33 million hectares, with India remaining the world leader despite plantings dropping to 12 million hectares. Production will decline by a comparable amount to 25 million tonnes. The Secretariat’s current price projection for the year-end 2019/20 average of the A Index has been revised to 71.4 U.S. cents per pound this month. The price projection for the year-end 2020/21 average of the A Index is 56.9 cents per pound this month.
