Cotton trade organization AmeriBangla Corporation said it has launched the first fully digital raw cotton marketplace, called CottonPort, designed to directly connect American farmers with Bangladeshi buyers.
At a launch event held last week in Dhaka, Bangladesh, AmeriBangla CEO Aswar Rahman explained how CottonPort would make it easier for Bangladeshi spinning mills to purchase cotton directly from farmers in the United States.
“This will reduce the role of intermediaries while ensuring fair prices for cotton and greater transparency in the supply chain,” he said.
The platform operates 24/7 and exclusively offers American cotton sold by the container. Containers are delivered to Chattogram, Bangladesh, where CottonPort’s logistics system handles delivery straight to the buyer’s warehouse. CottonPort operates on a dynamic pricing model, where costs decline daily until a lot is accepted, and include instant U.S. title transfer upon payment.
Fiber sold through CottonPort comes with “All American Cotton” traceability certification backed by U.S. Customs.
CottonPort launched with an offer of 82 metric tons of raw cotton sourced from Virginia, and AmeriBangla said it plans to transport 10 containers of cotton per month during the remainder of 2026 as part of the platform’s pilot. According to the company, more than 30 spinning mills in Bangladesh have expressed interest in buying American cotton through CottonPort.
Rahman founded AmeriBangla in 2024 in response to trade disruption after the overthrow of the Awami League regime in Bangladesh. The company—which is registered in Delaware—aimed to connect two titans in the cotton industry, with the U.S. as the second-largest exporter and Bangladesh the top importer of the fiber.
Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest garment exporter, with its ready-made garment exports reaching around $39 million in 2025, according to Forbes. A wide rage of global apparel brands source from Bangladesh, including H&M Group, Zara parent Inditex, Gap and Nike.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the United States produced nearly 14 million 480-pound bales of cotton in 2025, and 85 percent of that was exported. Brazil is the only country that outpaces the U.S. in cotton production.
AmeriBangla said that it plans to increase the volume of CottonPort containers to 1,600 per month by 2028, with the ultimate goal of increasing bilateral trade between the U.S. and Bangladesh. Currently, that trade accounts for around $10 billion, according to AmeriBangla, and they would like to contribute to a growth by 2045 to $100 billion.
