CottonPort, Bangladesh's first digital raw cotton marketplace, will offer US-grown cotton to local spinning mills at prices close to those of Brazilian cotton, the country's top single-country supplier, potentially making US cotton more competitive in Bangladesh from the outset.
AmeriBangla Corporation, a US-based company founded by non-resident Bangladeshis to promote Bangladesh in the US market and deepen bilateral trade, launched the platform on Thursday at a hotel in the capital. Its initial offering comprises 82 tonnes of high-quality raw cotton sourced directly from Virginia.
CottonPort Chief Executive Officer Aswar Rahman said the 24-hour digital marketplace would eliminate intermediaries by connecting Bangladeshi mills directly with US farmers, giving local buyers greater pricing leverage.
"Bangladeshi spinning mills have historically operated in a captive market, with limited pricing power during downturns," Rahman said, describing CottonPort as a "merchant-barrier-free" platform designed to break long-standing intermediaries and improve price discovery.
More than 30 mill owners have already expressed interest in buying cotton directly through the platform, he added.
According to local spinners, the price difference between American and Brazilian cotton currently ranges from around 1 cent to 4 cents per pound, depending on the quantity purchased.
The platform uses a dynamic pricing mechanism under which listed prices decline daily until a buyer accepts the offer. Rahman said the system would make price discovery more transparent and help US cotton remain competitive with supplies from major exporters such as Brazil.
CottonPort will facilitate direct purchases on a container basis, allowing even relatively small mills to access US cotton. Containers are pre-shipped and already in transit to Chattogram Port for direct delivery to buyers' warehouses.
The consignments carry "All American Cotton" traceability certification backed by US Customs, according to the company.
Rahman said direct sourcing could strengthen commercial ties between Bangladeshi manufacturers and the US market and potentially contribute to higher exports to the United States as the tariff environment evolves.
The platform's rollout will initially remain modest, with a 2026 trial capped at 10 containers a month. CottonPort aims to scale the volume to 1,600 containers a month by 2028.
Bangladesh imported 7.82 million bales of cotton in 2025, according to National Board of Revenue data. West and Central Africa remained the largest supplying region, although its share declined.
Brazil was the largest individual supplier, shipping 2.11 million bales, followed by India with 1.24 million bales and Benin with 0.80 million bales. The US supplied around 0.77 million bales.
