The China-Brazil trade alliance started the month of June with renewed assurances. During the trade mission that ended this week, the Brazilian Cotton Growers Association (Abrapa) and Cotton Brazil delegation paid tribute to three of the largest Chinese state-owned companies that trade cotton. This gesture marks 2024 as the year in which Brazil became the largest supplier of cotton to this giant Asian country.

The Global Cotton Brazil Global Partnership Award was presented to Chinatex President Yuan Fei, China National Cotton Group Corporation (CNCGC) President Liu Yong and China National Cotton Exchange (CNCE) President Yang Baofu by Abrapa Vice President Gustavo Piccoli. The tribute was made during an official dinner with Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock in Beijing.

Chinatex, the CNCE and the CNCGC are the three most important Chinese state-owned companies in the cotton sector. Together, they accounted for 40% of China’s cotton imports this year – the largest amount ever.

“We have ratified our partnership with each of the state-owned companies and leveraged it to exchange feedback, identifying points for improvement,” explained Mr. Marcelo Duarte, Abrapa’s director of International Relations. Based in Singapore, Mr. Duarte is in charge of the Cotton Brazil run by Abrapa and which represents the Brazilian cotton production chain on a global scale.

Cotton Brazil’s main line of action is to promote international trade exchanges, such as the one that has just taken place in China. The mission schedule included Abrapa’s participation in the official agenda for the “2024 China Cotton Industry Development Summit,” an event held by the CNCE in Xi’an, as well as several technical visits to factories, spinning mills and government agencies.

The mission took place between May 28th and June 5th with a delegation consisting of nine members of Abrapa and the National Cotton Shippers Association (Anea).

In addition to the awards to the presidents of Chinatex, the CNCE and the CNCGC, the “Global Cotton Brazil Global Partnership Award” was presented to the president of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil), Mr. Jorge Viana. The agency has been Abrapa’s main partner in the Cotton Brazil program since its inception in 2020. The Brazilian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Mr. Carlos Fávaro, also received the award.

Numbers

Six years ago, only 6% of the cotton bales imported by China came from in Brazil. In 2024, this scenario has changed completely. From January to April this year, 48% of all bales imported by China came from Brazil. The cumulative volume from August 2023 to April 2024 reached a total of 1.2 million tonnes – exceeding both the 12 months of

the previous market year (2022/23) and the best performing season of 2020/21, when the record was 720,500 thousand tonnes.

Currently, Brazil is the second largest cotton exporter in the world. Brazil is expected to export a final total of 2.5 million tonnes in the 2023/24 trading cycle.