Exports of cotton from Egypt declined by 69.7 percent in the third quarter of the agricultural season 2013-2014.The drop in cotton exports is attributed to the decrease of cultivated area due to the preference of farmers to grow other crops which are more profitable.Usually the export market witnesses bulk buying from September to January.

Currently the largest importer of Egyptian cotton in the global market is India. Egypt produces medium-long staple long staple and extra-long staple cottons. These cottons produce a wide range of yarn counts needed for the production of fine textiles.In the 1960s and 1970s, Egypt supplied 80 per cent of the world market, but later lost market share to its US competitor, pima cotton.

Egypt’s white gold has seen many ups and downs. For over 30 years, the planting and processing of the crop was monopolized by the government. The government bought the cotton, ginned it and sold it to local producers or exported it. The government set the price paid to the farmer, the export price and the price at which it was sold to local spinners. In 1994, the rules changed with the new cotton sector liberalization law. Farmers were free to decide the crops they wanted to plant and private traders were allowed to buy the crop, gin it and either sell it to local spinners or export it.