Cotton consumption in Bangladesh will grow in the marketing year of 2023-24 on the back of a rebound in work orders from international clothing retailers and brands, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Local mills may use 8.1 million bales of cotton in the next marketing year, starting in August, up 1.25 per cent from 8 million bales projected by the US agency last month.

The predicted increase is 11 per cent higher than Bangladesh's domestic use of 7.3 million bales in the 2022-23 marketing year, said the agency in its report styled "Cotton: World Markets and Trade". The report was published on June 9.

Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said cotton consumption would increase next year.

He went on to say that imports of US cotton will grow because of the withdrawal of the fumigation rule.

According to the USDA, global consumption increased by 800,000 bales to 117 million bales in June compared to the same month a year before. Each bale weighs about 480 pounds.

This growth was led by stronger consumption prospects in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey, and Pakistan.

As such, cotton usage is now forecast to be 7.9 million bales higher compared with the previous year.

Besides, global production will rise by more than one million bales in the upcoming marketing year to 116.7 million as higher production in the US and Pakistan more than offset lower production in China.

In its 2022-23 outlook, the USDA said production mostly remained unchanged this month at 116.3 million bales as lower production across West Africa, including Benin, Mali, and Ivory Coast, was offset by higher production in India and Brazil.

However, consumption is projected to decrease by 500,000 bales to 109.1 million bales in June due to lower usage in Bangladesh, Indonesia and the US.

Meanwhile, the global import forecast was revised down from the previous month to its lowest level in more than a decade at 37.1 million bales. This is because imports have reduced for Bangladesh, China, and Indonesia, reflecting trade-to-date and mostly lower consumption prospects, the USDA added.

Global ending stocks are up slightly this month to 92.9 million bales, nearly 7 million higher than the previous year.

Global cotton prices were mostly higher as last month's futures prices on the Intercontinental Exchange settled at roughly 85 cents per pound.

After last month's release, cotton futures surged to their highest level in more than three months on tighter old crop carry out for the US, robust growth forecasts in global consumption for 2023-24, and strong US sales and shipments.

Futures prices drifted lower after reaching 87 cents in mid-May with helpful rains in Texas, a stronger US dollar, and lower commodity futures.

Monsoor Ahmed, additional director of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, a platform for the primary textile millers, said cotton consumption in the country would keep growing.

He said imports of American cotton would increase in the near future thanks to last month's withdrawal of the mandatory fumigation of the textile raw material coming from the country.

In April, the government had re-imposed the provision of fumigation of US cotton at ports.

Now, African countries will lose their market share in Bangladesh, according to Ahmed.

Currently, African countries supply nearly 60 per cent of the cotton used by Bangladesh as local users have cut their over-reliance on Indian cotton in recent years.

But cotton consumption in Bangladesh may fall a bit after two to three years because of the increasing use of manmade fibre as local spinners are importing the material to meet the growing demand from garment makers.

Mohammad Fazlul Haque, vice-president of the BTMA, said cotton consumption may not be as high as predicted by the USDA as there is a stockpiling of unsold yarn and unspun cotton at local mills.

"However, if work orders come in big volumes, consumption may increase."

Haque said some of the country's spindle capacity was supposed to increase by 2.5 million, but many spinners are refraining from further expansion because of the fall in demand for yarn and low gas pressure at their units.