Cotton Council International, the National Cotton Council’s export promotions arm, is elevating U.S. cotton fiber and manufactured cotton products around the globe with its COTTON USA™ trademark.
What is CCI’s mission?
With more than 65 years of experience, CCI continues its mission of making U.S. cotton the preferred fiber for mills/manufacturers, brands/retailers and consumers. Promoting this value-added premium worldwide delivers profitability across the U.S. cotton industry and drives export growth of U.S. fiber, yarn and other cotton products. CCI’s reach, in fact, extends to more than 50 countries through 20 offices.
How did the recent COTTON USA Orientation Tour help?
Some of U.S. cotton’s largest textile mill customers from 15 countries visited the U.S. Cotton Belt in early October to learn more about our high-quality U.S. cotton fiber and to enhance business relationships aimed at boosting U.S. cotton exports. Participants included executives from 27 companies in Bangladesh, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. They got a firsthand look at the types and qualities of our fiber and met with industry representatives from North Carolina to California.
Specifically, this biennial tour enabled these important U.S. cotton customers to visit a Mid-South farm and gin, a farm and warehouse in Texas, and a Pima farm in California; observe cotton research in North Carolina and Mississippi; and tour a USDA cotton classing office. They also met with U.S. cotton exporters and had briefings from CCI, the NCC, Cotton Incorporated, the American Cotton Shippers Association, the Texas Cotton Association, the Lubbock Cotton Exchange, AMCOT, the American Cotton Producers, the Delta Council, Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., the Western Cotton Shippers Association, and Supima.
This was a very important event for boosting U.S. cotton export performance. That’s because the 15 countries represented on the tour account for 92% of U.S. cotton export sales, based on data from the 2022/23 marketing year.
What were some other key CCI activities in 2023?
The Bangladesh government announced it would relax its nearly-five-decade-long fumigation requirement on U.S. cotton imports – an action that removed a significant export barrier for U.S. cotton to Bangladesh – a top 10 export market for U.S. cotton in 2022. This move came after CCI-sponsored a Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture delegation visit to the U.S. Cotton Belt where those officials saw firsthand how U.S. cotton bales do not harbor boll weevils due to the highly successful Boll Weevil Eradication Program.
Among other positive events was a CCI-hosted annual COTTON DAY in Jakarta that attracted nearly 400 Indonesian textile industry personnel. CCI was able to celebrate the importance of U.S. cotton to Indonesian mills and expand our fiber’s usage. Specifically, the attendees learned 1) about the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol’s impact on escalating U.S. cotton’s sustainability and 2) how they could achieve peak performance with U.S. cotton through COTTON USA SOLUTIONS® and its five business-building programs that show how using U.S. cotton can boost a textile mill’s productivity, efficiency and profitability.