Brownfield, MO
Wednesday, January 7, 2014, 2:22 PM
The U.S. cotton industry faces continued competition issues. At the 2014 Beltwide Cotton Conference in San Antonio, National Cotton Council Vice President of Economics and Policy Analysis Dr.
Gary Adams with the National Cotton Council says volatility was the rule for the cotton market last year. And, USDA projections released in December call for a five-and-a-half-percent decline in world mill use.
Because the textile industry was devastated by the surge in imported textile and apparel products, Adams says there has been a major shift in U.S. cotton demand, “Cleary the U.S. textile industry is critically important to the overall health of the U.S. cotton industry. It’s also important to keep in mind they still account for just 30 percent of the cotton we produce every year.”
Adams says the remaining 70-percent of the cotton crop needs to find a home in the export market. He says the key is to increase international demand and put the U.S. industry in a position to satisfy the market.
