By Carah Hart

An extension economist with the University of Missouri says there are a few global factors affecting the current cotton and rice markets.

Ben Brown says a decline in U.S. cotton production is being overshadowed by deteriorations in global cotton consumption and the export market.

“We export a lot of our cotton to southeast Asia, China and Vietnam where they take our product, turn it into clothing and export it around the globe. The macroeconomic outlook in those countries matters a lot,” he says. “What China does for monetary policy and stabilize their economy impacts their appetite to buy cotton.”

He says what’s happening with India’s export ban of white rice matters to the United States.

“They’re a big exporter. What they do in the export market matters and we’ve seen some of the business from their export ban come back to the United States. It’s allowed us to have higher rice prices than what we normally would. If that were removed, we’d see lower rice prices for the U.S. producer.”

Brownfield interviewed Brown at Missouri Farm Bureau’s Commodity Conference this week.

Published Date: August 28, 2024