Brazilian Cotton

Mato Grosso & Bahia — machine-picked, low contamination

Brazil has moved from a minor exporter to one of the largest in the world within two decades, and it did so on agronomy and logistics rather than on price alone. The crop is grown mainly in Mato Grosso and Bahia on large mechanised farms, planted as a second crop after soybeans, and it is entirely machine-picked. Staple runs 1-1/8 to 1-5/32 inch with micronaire typically 3.8 to 4.6 and strength around 30 to 32 g/tex, classed under the SBRHVI system administered with ABRAPA, the growers' association. Its strongest commercial card is contamination: Brazilian lint consistently ranks among the cleanest in the ITMF survey, alongside American and Australian cotton, because mechanised picking and modern ginning keep foreign matter out of the bale.

Buy Brazilian cotton where you want American-grade cleanliness and consistency without paying the full US differential: ring and open-end spinning at scale, mills that have been burned by contamination, and programmes wanting a southern-hemisphere harvest to complement northern supply. Its arrival pattern from around July genuinely helps a mill smooth the year. The considerations are logistics and traceability. Brazilian export infrastructure has improved enormously but port and inland transport can still be a constraint in a big crop year, so shipment timing deserves attention in the contract. And while ABRAPA runs a credible sustainability and traceability programme, it is younger than the American system, so confirm what a given lot actually carries rather than assuming. CBIL brokers Brazilian cotton against SBRHVI classing, staple, micronaire, strength, contamination record and shipment window, on FOB Santos and Salvador, CFR and CIF terms.