ABARES pegs Australia's 2013-14 cotton output at 940k tons

13 Feb '14

2 min read

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), under the Department of Agriculture of the country, has downwardly revised its estimates of cotton output in Australia during 2013-14 season to 940,000 metric tons (MT) from the earlier 975,000 MT.

According to the Australian Crop Report February 2014 of ABARES, the area planted for cotton in the country is estimated to have declined by 11 percent in 2013–14 to 392,000 hectares, and hence cotton output is expected to fall by 8 percent to 940,000 tons.

The decline in cotton output in the country is attributed to the drought in the central and northern parts of Australia, especially Queensland, which has hindered the cultivation of the crop, due to low water availability.

As per the ABARES report, the area planted for cotton in New South Wales is estimated to have declined by 10 percent in 2013-14 to 256,000 hectares, and hence cotton output from the region is expected to decline to 621,000 tons during the season.

The area cultivated for cotton in Queensland is estimated to have dropped by 14 percent to 136,000 and cotton output from the region is expected to be 320,000 tons in 2013-14, the report states.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology data, the year 2013 was the hottest year in the country with around 65 percent of Queensland stricken by drought, as well as several parts of South Wales and Victoria, which has been attributed to have caused the decline in area of cultivation of the crop.

Australia produced about 4.4 million bales weighing 227 kg each of cotton in 2012-2013 season. In 2011-12, the country harvested a record of 5.3 million bales of the crop.

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