The sixth largest importer of Brazilian cotton in the world participated in the series of online events aimed at strengthening trade relations between Brazil and the Asian market.

As the series of virtual meetings around Brazilian cotton, the Cotton Brazil Outlook, continued, it was Indonesia’s turn to learn more about the quality of our lint. The event took place on March 4th and was organized by Abrapa (Brazilian Cotton Growers Association), in partnership with Anea (Brazilian Cotton Shippers Association) and Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), with support from the Brazilian Embassy in Jakarta and from API, the local textile association. 

These events have been happening since December 2020 and have helped promote meetings with textile industries from China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Authorities and specialists from Brazil gather with local textile leaders who receive valuable information about Brazilian cotton, including its intrinsic characteristics and data about the latest crop, as a way of strengthening commercial relations. 

Last year, about 200 thousand tonnes of cotton were exported to companies in Indonesia, currently the 6th largest importer of Brazilian lint. 

After opening remarks by Marcelo Duarte, Director of International Relations at Abrapa, and by Alexandre Schenkel, Abrapa’s vice-president, Brazil’s ambassador to Jakarta, José Amir da Costa Dornelles emphasized the importance of the event as an opportunity to highlight the competitiveness of the Brazilian product. 

“The Indonesian market absorbs 10% of all Brazilian cotton exports. The Brazilian embassy in Jakarta is proud to support the Cotton Brazil initiative and to work for the expansion of this important partnership between Brazil and the Indonesian textile industry”, he said. 

Abhay Agarwal, the chair of the International Trade Committee of API – Textile Association of Indonesia – and business director of the Sritex Group, gave a brief presentation on the country’s textile industry landscape, which has more than 1,500 companies including spinners, weavers and apparel manufacturers. “The warm relationship built between API and Abrapa will provide Indonesian cotton users easy access to high quality Brazilian cotton and ensure a profitable market for Brazilian growers“, he said. 

Sixth largest importer of Brazilian cotton 

Indonesia is an important partner for Brazilian cotton, being the sixth largest importer of our lint. In the Southeast Asian country there is a great acceptance for our product, with a market share of 34% in 2019/20. The partial data for 2020/21 is even better, showing that Brazilian cotton already accounts for 42% of Indonesia’s foreign purchases. 

The webinar also featured presentations by Júlio Cézar Busato, President of Abrapa; Edson Mizoguchi, Abrapa’s Quality Manager; Carlos Moresco, Brazilian cotton grower; Henrique Snitcovski, President of Anea; and Marcelo Duarte, Director of international relations at Abrapa.  

The Cotton Brazil Outlook – Indonesia event was held by Abrapa in partnership with Anea and Apex-Brasil, and with the support of the Brazilian Embassy in Jakarta.  

About Cotton Brazil 

The Cotton Brazil initiative was launched at the end of 2020 to promote Brazilian cotton in the global market, and is the result of 20 years of constant innovation, research, and investments in industry improvements. 

Led by Abrapa (Brazilian Cotton Growers Association) in partnership with Anea (Brazilian Cotton Shippers Association) and Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), Cotton Brazil seeks to place Brazil in a leadership position among the world’s cotton exporters through actions including digital marketing; a website in nine languages ​​combined with social media efforts; relationship marketing programs; technical and commercial events; market intelligence; buyers and sellers missions; strategic research and partnerships. In order to coordinate these actions in a more efficient way and foster richer relations with its Asian clients, Abrapa has an office in Singapore.  

To learn more, visit: www.cottonbrazil.com