Malaysia’s cotton imports dropped by 17.65 per cent from 0.85 million 480 lb bales in MY 2019-20 to 0.70 million 480 lb bales in MY 2020-21 due to the pandemic. They are expected to rise by 14.29 per cent in MY 2021-22 over the imports in MY 2020-21, according to Fibre2Fashion’s market analysis tool TexPro.
Cotton imports are significantly driven by domestic use through textile manufacturers and the demand from these domestic manufacturers has been on a rise. The US, Brazil, Ivory Coast and Australia are the top suppliers of cotton to Malaysian manufacturers.
Cotton exports of the country were 0.30 million 480 lb bales in MY 2019-20 as well as in MY 2020-21, despite the pandemic. They are expected to grow by 50 per cent to reach 0.45 million 480 lb bales. Exports have increased due to the strong demand from textile mills across South and Southeast Asia that are planning to fulfil the expected rising post-pandemic demand from the apparel sector in the EU and the US.
The domestic cotton consumption of Malaysia was 0.33 million 480 lb bales in MY 2019-20, which declined by 7.69 per cent to 0.30 million 480 lb bales in MY 2020-21. It is expected to rise by 16.67 per cent in MY 2021-22 over the domestic consumption of cotton in MY 2020-21.
The increase in domestic consumption is supported by the expectation that more than 80 per cent of the population will be vaccinated by the end of 2021. Industry experts also expect a strong consumer demand from the US and the EU by the end of 2021 due to higher cotton consumption for domestic garment production for export purposes.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)