Cotton output in China which is due to start in a few months is predicted to decline 8 per cent on last season’s crop. The total production in the country is predicted to decline further still in 2014-15, to 3.9 million ha.

However, the Communist-ruled Asian nation will still dominate the global market at a total of 4.6 million ha, according to the International Cotton Advisory Committee.

World stocks are projected to reach 20 million tons at the end of the current northern hemisphere season, of which 56 per cent will be held in China.

But the global cotton mill use is expected to continue growing in 2014-15, on the basis of a continued recovery in global economic growth, even though this depends on cotton and polyester fibre prices.