Global cotton farmers confront challenges posed by international pressures and climate alteration
Turkey's Cotton Sector Faces Critical Challenges Amidst Climate Change, Rising Costs, and Declining Demand
The cotton sector in Istanbul, Turkey, is currently experiencing a critical downturn due to a combination of environmental, economic, and trade pressures.
Key challenges include climate change impacts, rising input costs, and declining global and domestic market demand. Climate-induced water scarcity, as highlighted by Fevzi Çondur, the president of the National Cotton Council, is making cotton production planning nearly impossible. Unpredictable rainfall and soaring temperatures have disrupted planting cycles and reduced crop quality.
Rising input costs, driven by inflation (around 35%) and high interest rates (over 46% policy rate), have increased the cost of production. The Turkish lira’s depreciation has further escalated expenses for inputs and machinery needed in cotton agriculture and textile production.
The decline in global and domestic market demand negatively affects the entire textile and apparel value chain tied to cotton. Since 2022, more than 7,800 textile businesses have closed across Turkey, with significant job losses exceeding 300,000 workers. In Istanbul specifically, nearly 3,000 factories have shut down in the past year, driven by weakening orders and export challenges.
İrfan Özhamaratlı from the Istanbul Chamber of Industry notes that global challenges in ready-to-wear and textile sectors have led to a decline in demand for raw cotton. Companies in the ready-to-wear and textile sectors are facing the choice of either selling at a price that covers costs (too high for buyers) or selling at a loss to maintain production capacity. This unsustainable situation poses a serious threat to the future of production and employment, as per İrfan Özhamaratlı.
Orders from major textile markets have slowed, and global competition has intensified, especially from countries offering cheaper cotton. The recent 15% US tariffs on Turkish textiles further exacerbate the sector’s difficulties by raising costs and reducing competitiveness in key export markets like the United States.
Solutions and responses being explored include sustainability initiatives, calls for urgent collective action, and diversification of export markets and supply chains. Sustainability initiatives aim to reuse textile waste to reduce raw material dependency and waste, helping smaller fashion brands innovate within Istanbul’s textile sector despite cost challenges. Calls for urgent collective action from labor unions and industry leaders aim to stabilise the sector, protect jobs, and retain production facilities within the country. Diversification of export markets and supply chains aims to mitigate risks from tariffs and volatile demand, with some manufacturers focusing on integration into European supply chains in other sectors, though textiles lag behind in this recovery trend.
Overall, the cotton sector in Istanbul must address intertwined environmental, economic, and trade pressures through sustainability practices, cost management, industry collaboration, and strategic market adaptation to remain viable in the near future.
- The unreliable weather patterns, caused by climate change, are creating difficulties for the science of agricultural planning in the cotton sector, as highlighted by Fevzi Çondur, the president of the National Cotton Council.
- The increasing input costs, driven by factors such as inflation, high interest rates, and currency depreciation, are significantly impacting the finance and business operations of the cotton sector, making production increasingly expensive.
- As the global industry evolves and faces challenges, including declining demand in ready-to-wear and textile sectors, Turkish cotton producers need to adapt their environmental-science practices, focusing on sustainability initiatives and diversifying their export markets to remain competitive.
