Egypt’s production of cotton is forecast to drop 31% in marketing year (MY) 2019-20 to 337k bales, down from 489k bales in MY 2018-2019, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture’s Cairo office. Total land in cultivation will also fall by 31% to 97k hectares (230,952 feddans) in MY 2019-20, down from 141k hectares (335k feddans) in MY 2018-19. The report attributes the sharp fall in production to low cotton prices in 2018 and a surplus carried over into 2019. Egypt’s exports of cotton are also forecast to drop 24% to 220k bales as prices begin to increase in MY 2019-20. Imports of the crop, meanwhile, will increase by 2% to 510k bales during the MY. The 2019-20 MY runs from July 2019 to June 2020.