China increased its imports of Brazilian cotton by 66% in the 2023/24 season. The Cotton Brazil Mission will run through to June 6th focusing on the Chinese textile industry 

From today (28th) until to June 6th, the Brazilian Cotton Growers Association (Abrapa), through Cotton Brazil initiative, is holding another international mission, this time to China. Among the aims for the Brazilian delegation, composed of nine representatives from Abrapa and the National Cotton shippers Association (Anea), is to guarantee that the 2023/24 market year goes down in the history of trade between the two countries.  

After all, in addition to being the main importer of Brazilian cotton, China’s textile industry has shown, in practice, that there is still plenty of potential for expanding ties with Brazil. Between August 2023 and April 2024, China imported 1.2 million tonnes of Brazilian cotton. Not only does this amount exceed the previous mark, it also indicates that the current market year could double the historical record of 2020/21 (720,500 tonnes). 

These numbers reflect the commitment of the Brazilian production chain to further strengthen its position as a strategic partner for China. 

“Last year, we hosted a visit from Chinatex in Brazil where we showed that we can expand our supply to China with a quality product on a recurring basis throughout 12 months a year. The fruits of this are being reaped in the 2023/24 season,” added Alexandre Schenkel, Abrapa’s president.  

Chinatex is one of China’s largest cotton trading companies. “With a view to the coming years, our goal in this mission is to strengthen partnerships with other important companies such as the China National Cotton Exchange (CNCE) and China National Cotton Group Corporation (CNCGC),” Mr. Schenkel said. 

CNCE is a state-owned company that manages the largest cotton business platform in China, bringing together more than 4,000 spinners that account for 90% of the country’s cotton consumption. Since 2021, Abrapa has had a formal cooperation agreement with the CNCE.  

CNCGC’s operations cover different stages of the textile supply chain, from growing to trading, including the ginning process. One of its roles is to ensure the supply of cotton to all sectors of the Chinese textile industry.  

AGENDA

The agenda in China includes a business dinner with local entrepreneurs on Wednesday (29th) and participation during the two days of the “2024 China Cotton Industry Development Summit”, CNCE’s annual conference. In addition to networking and break-out business meetings, Abrapa is once again part of the global trends panel. For the third year in a row, the association’s Director of International Relations, Marcelo Duarte, will be a speaker alongside representatives from the United States and Australia. 

After the CNCE conference, the Brazilian delegation heads to Shanghai and Ningbo for technical visits to spinners and other textile plants. The mission concludes with the official agenda of the China-Brazil Commission of High Level of Agreement and Cooperation (Cosban), the main forum for continuous and official dialogue between Brazil and China. On June 4th, a wide-ranging meeting with Cosban, including the presence of the Brazilian Vice President and the Minister for Development, Industry, Trade and Services, Mr. Geraldo Alckmin.  

“At the preparatory meeting for Cosban, our main aim was to promote the Brazilian Cotton Quality Program (PQAB), developed by the Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with Abrapa. The acceptance of the PQAB by Chinese organs will raise efficiency in customs clearance for Brazilian cotton arriving in China,” explained Abrapa’s president.  

This mission to China is organized by the Cotton Brazil program which represents the Brazilian cotton production chain on a global scale. It is run by Abrapa and is partnered with The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) with the support of Anea.