Browse Data and Analysis

Uzbekistan’s cotton sector is at a crossroads. While opportunities for high-value-added products like textiles and ready-to-wear apparel are expanding, the industry faces financial constraints, shrinking farmland, and water shortages.

Burkina Faso, once the leader in West Africa cotton production, now ranks third (after Mali and Benin) due to its ongoing security challenges, though production is forecast to start recovering in MY2025/26.

FAS Abidjan, Accra (Post) forecasts Côte d’Ivoire’s market year (MY) 2025/2026 (August-July) cotton fiber production at 745,000 bales (480 pounds - lb.), up two percent from the MY 2024/2025 estimate of 730,000 bales.

Uzbekistan plans to increase its textile exports from $3 billion to $7 billion by 2028, which depends on a stable supply of raw cotton. However, this goal faces challenges as cotton production is under pressure due to various factors.

MY2024/25 cotton area harvested for Senegal, Mali, and Burkina Faso is estimated to decrease 17 percent to 981,000 HA. This is mainly due to decreased planted area resulting from a late rainy season in all three countries, as well as civil conflict in Burkina Faso.

MY2024/25 cotton area harvested for Mali, Senegal, and Burkina Faso is forecast at a combined 1.2 million HA, a one percent increase from the previous MY. A late start of the rainy season delayed planting in all three countries, and insecurity in Burkina Faso continues to prevent planting in many areas.

The global cotton industry is still readjusting to lower post-pandemic demand, and Uzbekistan wasn’t spared the effects of the market overhang. Uzbekistan's strong vertical integration and government support for the industry have helped drive both its resiliency and recovery.

The regional harvested area for Marketing Year (MY) 2024/25 is forecast to rise 17 percent at 1.38 million hectares (MHA) compared to the previous year based on expectations of good farm gate prices and improved security and stability in many cotton-growing areas.

Uzbekistan’s cotton production in marketing year (MY) 2023/24 is estimated at 621,000 metric tons (MT) (2.85 million bales). Cotton consumption in MY 2023/24 is forecast lower year-to-year at 599,000 MT (2.75 million bales) due to lower demand from importer countries like Turkiye and Russia for cotton yarn and fabric.

Marketing year (MY) 2023/24 area harvested for Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal is expected to remain the same as the previous year at 1.23 million hectares (MHA), as increases in Mali and Senegal were offset by losses in Burkina Faso due to...

Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal area harvested for marketing year (MY) 2023/24 is forecast to remain the same as the previous year at 1.23 million hectares (MHA) based on good farm gate prices, governments’ input subsidies, and farmers’ debt cancellation by the Malian and Senegalese governments.

Post forecasts MY 2023/24 cotton fiber production at 700,000 bales (480 lb.) The MY 2022/23 estimate for exports has dropped to 650,000 bales.