Cotton exports are already a record for May

May isn't even over yet and Brazilian cotton lint exports are already recording a record for the month, even with the data still partial. While negotiations in the domestic spot market remain punctual, external shipments are advancing at an accelerated pace, according to an analysis by Cepea (Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics).

Data from Secex (Secretariat of Foreign Trade) show that Brazil shipped 230.34 thousand tons of cotton lint in the first 15 working days of May. The volume is already the largest in the historical series for the month and exceeds the entire total exported in May 2025 by 19.8%.

Despite the record, the partial result is still 37.8% lower than that recorded in April 2026. The daily average of shipments, however, reaches 15.36 thousand tons, an increase of 67.8% compared to the 9.15 thousand tons observed in the same period last year.

In the 2025/26 harvest, which began in August 2025, Brazilian exports already exceed 2.9 million tons by the third week of May. The volume also exceeds the total exported during the entire 2024/25 harvest by 4%, when the country shipped 2.84 million tons.

The consultancy StoneX, for example, raised the estimate for Brazilian lint exports in the harvest by 6.5% this Tuesday (26), to 3.3 million tons, due to shipments that have exceeded expectations in the semester. Production is estimated at 3.86 million tons.

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In relation to prices, the average of exports in May was US$0.6995 per pound, an increase of 1.9% compared to April 2026, but a drop of 4.2% compared to May 2025.

In reais, the average is equivalent to R$3.4776 per pound, a value 17.5% lower than that practiced in the domestic spot market, which averages R$4.2154 per pound. According to Cepea, this difference is the largest since September 2022, when exports were 21% below domestic prices.

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Source: CNN