Cotton not only is one of the oldest fibers used in textiles, it also is one of the most popular. For that, the plant has Cotton Incorporated to thank. Established in 1970, the U.S.- based not-for-profit trade group's mission is to build demand for cotton.“We're engaged in research and marketing activities that further the demand for cotton,” said Mark Messura, Cotton Incorporated's vice president of strategic planning.“ We do technical research in textiles and yarn manufacturing, consumer research, economic research — all the kinds of things that are necessary to support cotton as a fiber in the marketplace.”
Market Growth
According to Messura, cotton use, both in terms of total use and per-capita use, has been rising. In 1973, cotton's market share in the United States , measured by weight for all categories of clothing, was 34 percent; currently the share is more than 60 percent.“It has almost doubled over the past two decades,” said Messura.
Despite the sustained growth in market share,Messura said there are challenges in promoting cotton use.“The No. 1 challenge is to make sure cotton is competitive with manmade fibers,” he said.“Most consumers, in the products they buy in the U.S. market, look for cotton. But if there are advances in products and you can improve stain repellency or soil release or wrinkle resistance with synthetic fibers, our challenge is to show that you can do that with cotton fibers as well.There are new fibers out there all the time, cotton's challenge is to stay competitive and stay relevant.”
In addition to the domestic market, a large portion of U.S. cotton is exported to other textile producing countries. According to Messura, the biggest export markets for U.S. cotton are China , Turkey , Mexico , and Indonesia .“The shift is toward China , but we believe we'll continue to see growth in India , Pakistan and Bangladesh ,” said Messura.“We'll most likely continue to see a slight decline in the U.S. numbers, but definitely the shift has been toward China .”
Besides the United States, which is expected to produce 23 million bales of cotton this year, other major cotton producers include China (with 29 million bales this year), India (with 16.4 million bales this year) and Pakistan (with 11.5 million bales this year).These and other countries will together supply the world with 117.7 million bales of cotton this year.
Cotton Quality
In addition to marketing cotton to consumers and industries, Cotton Incorporated also plays an important role in quality research. Over the years, cotton fiber quality, as with production yield, has been improving. In the United States , this improvement culminated in the exceptional crop harvested last year.
“Last year, we had a crop with record yield,” said Mike Watson, Cotton Incorporated's vice president of fiber quality research. “It wasn't just a record yield, but it was like breaking the four-minute mile by 10 seconds. It was a hugely recordbreaking yield. At the same time, that crop was, on the whole, of better quality on measurable qualities such as average length and average strength. It was extraordinary.”
As with all types of agriculture, cotton quality and yield are affected by three main factors: weather pattern, crop variety and farm management. Other than weather, which is largely beyond the control of human intervention,Watson said there have been significant improvements in the other two areas.
“Over the course of history, there has been a long gradual increase in the quality of cotton. It has gotten longer, stronger, wider, cleaner,” he said.“Varieties have gotten better and farmers have gotten smarter.” He added that there is a constant arms race going on to produce better cotton varieties that are more tolerant to environmental stress, or that have increased productivity, or that produce better quality cotton.
