Textile manufacturing executives representing 14 countries will visit the U.S. Cotton Belt September 30-October 4 on the 41st COTTON USA Orientation Tour.
Sponsored by Cotton Council International (CCI), the export promotions arm of the Memphis-based National Cotton Council (NCC), the Tour aims to increase U.S. cotton customers’ awareness of the types/qualities of U.S. cotton, help them gain a better understanding of U.S. marketing practices, and enhance their relationships with U.S. exporters.
More than 900 textile executives from over 60 countries have participated in this biennial Tour, which began in 1968.
“We want to show these important U.S. cotton customers the source of the high quality, responsibly-produced fiber they use in their textile operations,” said CCI President Hank Reichle, a Mississippi cooperative executive. “We also want to showcase how intently focused our industry is on sustainability and the degree to which we are committed and invested in continuous improvement in our production practices. Hopefully, they will come away with an even better appreciation of our fiber’s premium value and how it can make their textile operations more competitive.”
This year’s Orientation Tour includes executives representing 32 companies in Bangladesh, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Peru, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. These manufacturers are expected to consume about 3.7 million bales in 2019, and the U.S. market share with them is estimated at about 33%. The countries represented on the Tour consume about 101 million cotton bales per year in their textile mills – roughly 82% of the world’s cotton consumption.
The Tour participants will visit a Mid-South cotton farm; tour a cotton warehouse in the Lubbock, TX area; observe cotton research in North Carolina and Mississippi, and tour the USDA cotton classing office in Bartlett, TN. They will also meet with U.S. cotton exporters and get briefings from CCI, the NCC, Cotton Incorporated, American Cotton Shippers Association, Texas Cotton Association, Lubbock Cotton Exchange, AMCOT, American Cotton Producers, Delta Council, Plains Cotton Growers Association, Western Cotton Shippers Association and Supima.