Egyptian Cotton Exports Rise

Figures compiled by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) show that roughly 379,700 tons of Egyptian Cotton™ were produced during this time. That is a significant improvement from the 134,800 tons for the same period the previous year.

Much of this increase has been attributed to a surge in the amount of ginned cotton that Egypt is generating. In the second quarter of 2017-8, roughly 800,000 kantars were produced. This is double the 400,000 produced in the same quarter the previous year. More specifically, there has been a 107.6% increase in production of ginned cotton. Ginned cotton is simply cotton that has undergone the process of separating the all-important raw long-staple fibres from the cotton seeds. Excess moisture is removed and any foreign objects are detached.

Exports have been able to grow to such an extent because of the greater amount of land that has been given over to cotton cultivation. The most recent estimates suggest that approximately 321,787 fedans are now in use, which converts to around 333,963 acres. This is an impressive increase of 100,000 feddans on last year.

Further Work To Be Done

Even these gains are unlikely to be enough to meet foreign export demand, however. Adel Abdel Azim, the Head of the Cotton Improvement Fund, believes that a total of 400,000 feddans will be required to meet international demand in 2019. Nabil al-Sanrisi, the Head of the Cotton Exporters Association, takes a similar view. He has previously stated that the Egyptian government will need to support and back the production of 2 million quintals of Egyptian Cotton™ by 2019. Fortunately, the Egyptian government has recently committed itself to boosting the size and productivity of the domestic cotton sector.

However, further work needs to be done to encourage Egypt’s domestic manufacturing sector to buy Egyptian Cotton™. In Q2 of this agricultural season, the amount of domestically consumed cotton fell to 47,200 kantars from 127,600 kantars in the same period last year. This is a notable decrease of 63%. The drop is being blamed on a tendency amongst Egyptian manufacturers and factories to use imported cotton for their products due to its cheaper price.

In a positive sign of things to come, the Egyptian government recently joined the Cotton Egypt Association (CEA) and the Egyptian Cotton Exporters Association in signing a 3 year brand management agreement. This will allow us to continue our work protecting the name and reputation of Egyptian Cotton™ worldwide. We hope to restore consumer and retailer confidence in our luxurious items as well as engage further with international textile companies. Hopefully our work will also encourage more Egyptian companies to choose Egyptian Cotton™ for their products, boosting the domestic sector.