Cotton exports earned Mozambique 233.8 million meticals (3.7 million dollars) in the first quarter of this year, a drop of 56 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.
According to a report by the Bank of Mozambique, consulted by the Lusa news agency, cotton exports fell by the equivalent of 297 million meticals (4.7 million dollars) year-on-year, compared to the 530.8 million meticals (8.4 million dollars) exported in the first three months of 2023.
‘There was a 1.4% drop in the price of cotton fibre on the international market, in a context in which the volume exported increased by 36.2%,’ the document points out.
According to figures previously released by the president of the Mozambican Cotton Association (AAM), Francisco Ferreira dos Santos, cotton in Mozambique has represented an annual average of between 1.8 and 3.1 billion meticals (30 and 50 million dollars) in exports over the last ten years, and is considered an essential crop: ‘it has a huge value chain, it’s an almost sacred crop, with a catalysing effect on the economy and demographics’.
