According to customs statistics, in 2024, China imported a total of 2.61 million tons of cotton, an increase of 33.8%, of which Brazil cotton is the largest import source country, accounting for 42%; The United States came in second with 33 percent. Australia ranked third with 18 per cent, followed by India at 3 per cent, Turkey at 2 per cent, Kazakhstan at 2 per cent and other producers combined at 5 per cent. Compared with 2023, one of the biggest changes in China’s cotton imports in 2024 is the successful rise of Brazilian cotton, pulling American cotton down the first throne for many years (in 2023, the proportion of American cotton imports reached 38%, and Brazilian cotton accounted for only 29%); The second is that although the production of Indian cotton in 2023/24 has declined sharply year-on-year, the export volume of Indian cotton to the Chinese market has increased significantly year-on-year (74,000 tons in 2024, an increase of 105.5%), and the growth rate is far ahead of competitors such as Brazilian cotton, American cotton and Australian cotton (the US cotton has a year-on-year increase of only 16.5%).

Some cotton trading enterprises in Qingdao, Zhangjiagang and other places have reported that up to now, although there are still a certain amount of bonded/customs clearance 2023/24 Indian S-615 5/32, M 1 5/32 and other hand-picked cotton spot sales at the main ports in China, there are very few new cotton in 2024/25 for the 12-March shipping date. The industry’s expectations of India’s cotton production and export capacity are generally not high. For the reasons for the significant rebound of Indian cotton exports to the Chinese market in 2024, textile enterprises in Shandong, Henan and Jiangsu believe that the main reasons are as follows:

First, in 2023/24, the indicators of S-6 grade, quality, short wool rate, and impurity content in Gujarat State, India, rose compared with the previous year, and spinnability and spinning production rate increased. According to the survey, the proportion of Indian cotton S-617 7/32 and S-615 5/32 imported by China in 2024 is very high, which is suitable for spinning cotton yarn of C40S and above, and has strong substitution for some American cotton, Brazilian cotton and African cotton. Second, the “cost performance” of Indian cotton has recovered. From the point of view of some cotton companies’ quotes, since late January, Qingdao Port bonded Indian cotton S-6 15 5/32 (strong 29GPT) basis has stabilized at about 4 cents/pound, which is 3-5 cents/pound lower than the same cotton Brazil cotton, 7-10 cents/pound lower than the same indicator US cotton, plus textile enterprises/cotton trading enterprises are not satisfied with the US cotton packaging problem. Hence the growing interest in Indian cotton; Third, the worsening of the Red Sea transportation crisis and the relatively active trading of high-distribution coarse yarn and Siro spinning since 2024 have expanded the “use place” of Indian cotton. Comparatively speaking, purchased Indian cotton has the characteristics of short transportation distance, high safety and high matching degree with high spinning and medium and low count cotton yarn.