IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘World – Cotton Yarn – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends And Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

After two years of growth, the global cotton yarn market decreased by -2.8% to $77.2B in 2019. Overall, consumption continues to indicate a relatively flat trend pattern. The most prominent rate of growth was recorded in 2018 when the market value increased by 18% y-o-y. Global consumption peaked at $81B in 2013; however, from 2014 to 2019, consumption remained at a lower figure.

Consumption by Country

The countries with the highest volumes of cotton yarn consumption in 2019 were China (8.1M tonnes), India (4.3M tonnes), and Pakistan (3.2M tonnes), together comprising 74% of global consumption.

From 2013 to 2019, the biggest increases were in India, while cotton yarn consumption for the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

In value terms, China ($38.9B) led the market, alone. The second position in the ranking was occupied by India ($12.8B). It was followed by Pakistan.

The countries with the highest levels of cotton yarn per capita consumption in 2019 were Pakistan (16 kg per person), Turkey (16 kg per person) and South Korea (7.55 kg per person).

China remains the global leader in terms of cotton yarn production and consumption. The Chinese textile industry has experienced a rapid transformation over the last two decades. Thus, there was a boom in the synthetic yarn industry in China since the late 1990-s, while cotton yarn output remained relatively stable. This was driven by the strong development of the construction sector in China, particularly, infrastructure and urban construction, amid the strong growth of the economy and rapid urbanization. Rising construction required lots of non-woven synthetic fabrics used as geotextiles and as a component for the production of composite materials. Another impact comes from the increased availability of synthetic fibers due to the rising oil consumption, with the raw materials for fibers constituting a by-product of petroleum distillation.

Given those factors, the production of synthetic fiber apparel also grew. By contrast, cotton yarn output remained relatively stable because it is used only for human apparel, and it was pressured by the rising supply of synthetic fibers. This led to the fact that the share of cotton yarn in terms of the total yarn output in China contracted from near 50% in 2000 to near 22% in 2019. This, however, constitutes a tangible figure of 6.4M tonnes.

With this figure, China heads global cotton yarn production. Other countries with the highest volumes of cotton yarn production in 2019 include India (5.3M tonnes) and Pakistan (3.7M tonnes), with a combined 72% share of global production. Turkey, Viet Nam, the U.S. and Brazil lagged somewhat behind, together comprising a further 16% (IndexBox estimates).

From 2013 to 2019, the most notable rate of growth in terms of cotton yarn production, amongst the leading producing countries, was attained by Viet Nam (+24.2%), while cotton yarn production for the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

Imports

In 2019, approx. 4.5M tonnes of cotton yarn were imported worldwide; which is down by -3.1% compared with the year before. In general, imports, however, continue to indicate a relatively flat trend pattern. The most prominent rate of growth was recorded in 2015 with an increase of 8.6% year-to-year. As a result, imports attained a peak of 4.8M tonnes. From 2016 to 2019, the growth of global imports remained at a somewhat lower figure. In value terms, cotton yarn imports dropped to $13.7B (IndexBox estimates) in 2019.

China was the key importer of cotton yarn in the world, with the volume of imports resulting at 2M tonnes, which was near 45% of total imports in 2019. Bangladesh (248K tonnes) held a 5.5% share (based on tonnes) of total imports, which put it in second place, followed by Honduras (5.3%) and Turkey (4.7%). Russia (171K tonnes), South Korea (142K tonnes), Portugal (106K tonnes), the Dominican Republic (106K tonnes), Hong Kong SAR (103K tonnes), Viet Nam (93K tonnes) and Egypt (92K tonnes) held a relatively small share of total imports.

China experienced a relatively flat trend pattern with regard to the volume of imports of cotton yarn. At the same time, the Dominican Republic (+13.7%), Viet Nam (+13.1%), Turkey (+8.4%), Russia (+5.8%), Egypt (+4.0%), Bangladesh (+3.9%), Portugal (+2.0%) and Honduras (+1.8%) displayed positive paces of growth. Moreover, the Dominican Republic emerged as the fastest-growing importer imported in the world, with a CAGR of +13.7% from 2013-2019. By contrast, South Korea (-2.8%) and Hong Kong SAR (-20.0%) illustrated a downward trend over the same period.

In value terms, China ($5.6B) constitutes the largest market for imported cotton yarn worldwide, comprising 41% of global imports. The second position in the ranking was occupied by Bangladesh ($772M), with a 5.6% share of global imports. It was followed by Honduras, with a 5.4% share.

From 2013 to 2019, the average annual rate of growth in terms of value in China amounted to -1.3%. In the other countries, the average annual rates were as follows: Bangladesh (-1.6% per year) and Honduras (+3.0% per year).

Import Prices by Country

The average cotton yarn import price stood at $3,064 per tonne in 2019, with a decrease of -5.4% against the previous year. Over the period under review, the import price showed a perceptible setback. The most prominent rate of growth was recorded in 2017 when the average import price increased by 4.1% y-o-y. Over the period under review, average import prices hit record highs at $3,660 per tonne in 2013; however, from 2014 to 2019, import prices remained at a lower figure.

Prices varied noticeably by the country of destination; the country with the highest price was Hong Kong SAR ($4,190 per tonne), while Russia ($1,901 per tonne) was amongst the lowest.

From 2013 to 2019, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Honduras, while the other global leaders experienced a decline in the import price figures.

Source: IndexBox AI Platform