Coronavirus may shift buyers to Turkey, fuel cotton growth

25 Feb '20

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

The coronavirus outbreak will cause a possible shrinking of China's textile and garment industry and this may drive many global brands toward Turkey, increasing the importance of cotton growing in the country, according to a report by Turkey's ministry of agriculture and forestry. Meanwhile, the epidemic continues to hurt Turkey’s exports to China.

The report, which evaluated the effects of the new outbreak on the cotton sector, said China had the biggest share in the overall cotton fibre imports during 2018 and 2019. Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan and Turkey had followed China respectively, while some 9 per cent of the cotton imports of the total world record were carried out by Turkey.

During the same period, the United States had the biggest share in the overall fibre cotton exports with 3.2 million tonnes and was followed by Brazil, India and Australia.

It is expected that big European brands will return to Turkish companies especially for fast order products, the report noted. The price of Turkish cotton is also expected to rise, along with an increase in the global cotton prices, which had witnessed a decline earlier, a Turkish newspaper reported citing the government document.

The six provinces that met nearly 84 per cent of Turkey's cotton production last year were Sanliurfa (37 per cent), Aydin (11 per cent), Diyarbakir (11 per cent), Hatay (10 per cent), Adana (9 per cent) and Izmir (6 per cent).

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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