Despite efforts from the leading Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) to carry out some cotton farming projects, Vietnam’s cotton production in 2014-15 is forecast less than the previous marketing year, according to the US department of agriculture. The department’s foreign agricultural service in a report said Vietnam’s 2013-14 cotton production is estimated at 1,270 metric tons (mt) or 5.82 thousand bales.
The report also says Vietnam’s cotton consumption growth rate is expected to slow down in the marketing year 2015-2016. The slowdown is likely to be triggered by China’s reduction of yarn imports on the back of incentives offered by the Chinese government to its spinners who purchase more cotton from Chinese reserves.
But cotton imports in 2013-14 have been revised to increase by 32 per cent, reaching 691,400 mt (or 3,171 thousand bales). In 2014, Vietnam imported 757,800 mt of cotton (or 3,476 thousand bales) for a value of $1.45 billion, a year-on-year increase of 30 per cent in quantity and 24 per cent in value. US cotton accounted for 29 per cent of total imports. Cotton imports will continue to rise in Vietnam to feed the increasing market demand in the current marketing year.
