In a written statement, İzmir Commodity Exchange (İTB) Board Chair Işınsu Kestelli said that additional field surveys were carried out across the Aegean in November to assess the extent to which rainfall disrupted the cotton harvest and to identify the negative impacts of extreme weather events.
Kestelli noted that efforts to determine cotton cultivation areas in the Aegean and to estimate production volumes were conducted under the coordination of İTB, in cooperation with the İzmir Chamber of Commerce, Aegean Exporters’ Associations, the commodity exchanges of Manisa, Aydın and Söke, Tariş Cotton and Oil Seeds Agricultural Sales Cooperatives Union, and Ege University’s Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Soil Science. She recalled that at a meeting held on 8 October 2025, they announced the Aegean’s expected cotton output at 160,000 tonnes, and added:
“Based on consultations with producers, ginning plants and other industry stakeholders operating across the region, as well as field inspections, it was determined that rainfall during the harvest period led to losses in both yield and quality. Prior to the rainfall, only about 15% of the cotton harvest had been completed, while the remaining 85% was adversely affected by the rains.”
Quality losses observed in cotton harvested after rainfall
Işınsu Kestelli emphasized that heavy rainfall increased soil moisture levels and disrupted the field conditions required for harvesting. She stated that quality deterioration was observed in cotton collected immediately after the rains, and that yield losses were identified due to storage problems in warehouses affected by rainwater. “As a result of all assessments carried out, although outcomes vary depending on the amount of rainfall experienced at each location, it is estimated that the previously announced 2025–2026 season Aegean cotton output will fall short of expectations by approximately 10% to 15%,” she concluded.