Global cotton mill use is projected to increase at an improved growth rate of 2.7% during 2017/18 reaching 25.2 million tons. In comparison, during 2016/17 world cotton mill use grew by 1.6%. Mill use in China is projected to grow by 1.5% to 8.1 million tons. Cotton mill use is also projected to grow moderately in India, Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Brazil.  

In 2017/18, world trade is projected stable at 8 million tons and USA will remain the largest exporter accounting for 40%, or 3.1 million tons of world shipments. Bangladesh will remain the largest importer in 2017/18 accounting for 18%, or 1.4 million tons of world imports. 

Because world production is projected to edge over mill use during 2017/18, world ending stocks could increase moderately and reach 18.7 million tons with stocks to use ratio remaining little changed at 75%. However, ending stocks in China are projected to decline by 1.7 million tons during 2017/18, while outside China stocks are projected to increase by 1.85 million tons.