The potential for Brazil to expand its supply of sustainable cotton is one of the central messages that the South American country will take to the annual event of the International Cotton Association (ICA), which takes place from October 15th to 17th in Liverpool (UK). The ICA Trade Event has been held since 2004 and is expected to attract more than 500 participants this year, including traders, producers, spinning and textile mills. 

As the main international cotton trade entity, the ICA annual event is an opportunity to showcase the overall scenario and the main future trends for the cotton sector.

“Our goal is to strengthen Brazil’s image as a major, global player in highly strategic markets,” said Alexandre Schenkel, president of the Brazilian Cotton Growers Association (Abrapa). 

In the 2023/24 marketing year, which ended in July, Brazil achieved the position of the world’s largest cotton exporter for the first time. For the 2024/25 crop, the forecast is for the production of 3.67 million tonnes of cotton – 13% higher than in 2023/24. Exports are expected to reach 2.86 million tonnes (6.7% more than the 2023/23 season), according to data from Abrapa. 

These and other data will be on the agenda during the ICA Trade Event. On October 15th, at 12pm, Abrapa will hold the  Cotton Brazil Luncheon, a side event aimed at business owners and investors in the textile sector. On the agenda will be harvest and export figures and projections for the 2024/25 season. The program will conclude with a debate on the challenges and a vision of the future for Brazilian cotton, with the presidents of Abrapa, Alexandre Schenkel, and the National Association of Cotton Exporters (Anea), Miguel Faus. It is expected that more than 70 international business owners and investors will attend. 

On the 17th, Brazil will be promoting a panel discussion entitled, “Cotton Connected: Brazil’s role in helping secure global cotton’s place in the future of textiles”, from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm. The topic will be Brazil’s role as a major global player capable of ensuring an important role for cotton in the future of textile products. The panel will be moderated by consultant George Candon and will feature Bill Ballenden (LDC), Alexandre Schenkel (Abrapa), Fabiana Furlan (Scheffer) and Mirza Salman Ispahani (MM Ispahani Limited) as debaters. 

The main focus of the panel will be to discuss what Brazil’s role will be in a scenario of ever greater consumption of artificial textile fibres, since Brazil is currently the world’s main supplier of sustainable cotton. The highlight of the debate is to bring together different points of view that are directly related to this topic: from growing and production, to trade, marketing, spinning and retail. 

COTTON BRAZIL 

Throughout the ICA Trade Event, the delegation of Brazilian growers and exporters, coordinated by Abrapa, will hold a series of business rounds with global traders. The first set of meetings takes place on the 16th (Wednesday), in parallel to the event program, in five conference rooms from 2 pm to 4 pm. On Thursday (17th), there will be three more meetings, from 3 pm to 4 pm. 

This networking and business promotion strategy during the ICA Trade Event has been carried out for at least three years by Cotton Brazil, Abrapa’s trade promotion and market development program. It is run by Abrapa in partnership with The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) and with the support of Anea (The Brazilian Cotton Shippers Association). 

TOPICS – In this year’s edition, the ICA Trade Event has set up a diverse program with a view to the near future of the textile industry. In addition to environmental legislation to be implemented or already in force in consumer markets, the event will address new developments in commercial arbitration – one of the activities carried out by ICA. The use of artificial intelligence in textile operations, the drop in demand for cotton and the increase in demand for new generation fibres are also on the agenda. 

Learn more about the ICA Trade Event HERE.

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