DEMAND for natural fabrics over synthetic fibres bodes well for the international cotton trade, according to Australian Cotton Shippers’ Association chief executive Jules Willis.
Ms Willis was speaking after the Australian Cotton Conference on the Gold Coast, a biannual trade event that attracted more than 3000 delegates from Australia and overseas.
A positive message was that “cotton has a good story to tell”.
“We often say that with cotton, our biggest competitor is not other markets like Brazil or the US, rather it is synthetics. With oil prices increasing, that is increasing the price of synthetics… Cotton has good value at the moment," she said.
“We know that we have to get our market share back.”
Around 30 years ago, cotton and natural fibres were 80% of the textile market, whereas this has since reversed.
The rising price of synthetics, as well as greater awareness of the environmental impacts of microplastics, mean a cotton revival is on the cards.
“One of the key messages [at the conference] was, this is an opportunity to increase our market share for global cotton," Ms Willis said. " We need to ‘strike while the iron is hot. [Current market conditions are] a good opportunity to grow our market share at this point.”
A changing climate and El Niño were also discussed, with possible drier conditions for farmers reducing the quantity of cotton for export.
Ms Willis said the Australian industry was coming off “a couple of years of high production”, but “El Nino is a reality” and it was crucial growers achieved a significant return on investment.
[Drought] will impact the amount of water allocated to agriculture and how much the growers can get,” she said.
“There is talk of lower production next season but that outlook can change rapidly in a few months if there is some rain.”
Australia typically exports about 4.5 million to six million bales of cotton annually, depending heavily on seasonal water availability and weather conditions.