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 Opportunity Knocks
The largest market and the most valuable use of cotton fibers
is for spinning yarns used to make knitted and woven fabrics.
To yarn spinners, cotton fibers are an industrial raw material that
performs according to relevant physical properties. This explains
the value of HVI, which enables both farmers and manufacturers
to better understand what properties are needed and to match
the fibers with the markets. Improvements in farmer-to-spinner
linkages will enable increased market access and improved pricing
efficiency.
Profiting By Serving Global Markets
There are markets for all cotton fibers, but the valuable spinning
markets around the world are focused on the physical
attributes of length, strength and fineness. The two major spinning
technologies are ring and open-end rotor, with the world
outside the United States dominated by ring spinning.
Until the FiberMax revolution was brought to Texas, most of
the state’s cotton lacked the combination of fiber properties to
serve the needs of ring spinners; in particular, the fiber length
was inadequate
Texas now produces some of the longest fibers in the United
States and is a major raw material source for ring-spun yarns around the world.
The combination of increased yields and improved fiber properties
has resulted in billions of dollars in additional revenue to
Texas cotton producers.
Yield, Quality Drive Success
While yield is the single most important factor to cotton farmers,
the combination of yield and fiber quality will determine the
long-term winners in global competition. This is true among the
cotton-producing countries but also between global cotton and
global man-made fibers.
Yield is necessary, but adding quality provides a sufficient
condition for success. |
