Ivory Coast forecasts 2017/18 cotton output steady at 350,000 T

ABIDJAN: Ivory Coast's raw cotton output is forecast to hit 350,000 tonnes in the 2017/18 season, little changed from 340,000 tonnes in the last season, the Cotton Ginners' Association's executive secretary Christophe N'Dry said on Friday.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is also one of Africa's largest cotton exporters. Its annual output was about 400,000 tonnes before a 2002-2003 civil war halved it.

The government aims to boost output to 600,000 tonnes by 2020. Cotton farmers in Ivory Coast sow cotton by late May and the harvest runs from November through January or February.