Cotton prices, as measured by Cotton candy, fell by -0.7% to settle at 56380, primarily due to a pessimistic forecast for the world cotton market. For the second year in a row, the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) predicted that worldwide cotton production would be surplus due to production exceeding consumption.
In the 2023–2024 season, it is predicted that global cotton lint production would increase by 3.25% year over year to 25.4 million metric tons, while consumption will slightly decrease to 23.4 million metric tons. The Cotton Association of India (CAI) updated its projection for cotton production for the current 2023–2024 season to 29.4 million bales in light of the damage caused by farmers uprooting plants and the pink bollworm infestation in Haryana.
In addition, insufficient rainfall in north Maharashtra is predicted to result in a significant 25% decrease in cotton production. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), larger worldwide ending stocks are expected as a result of an increase in projected U.S. cotton production for 2023–2024.
While worldwide cotton balance sheets show reduced consumption but higher output and stocks, the U.S. cotton balance sheet for 2023–2024 shows somewhat lower consumption but higher production and ending stockpiles. The final week of November saw a 5-week low in worldwide cotton bookings, a sign of weak demand that added to the pessimistic outlook. The price closed up 0.15% to 26393.05 Rupees on the Rajkot spot market.
