Cotton Council International

Cotton Council International

Major activities carried out during 2008.

Amidst the uncertain economic atmosphere of 2008, Cotton Council International (CCI) intensified its promotion efforts of U.S. cotton and cotton products throughout the world. To counter slowing global demand for cotton products, CCI and its partner, Cotton Incorporated, also escalated efforts to build underlying consumer demand.

CCI carried out COTTON USA promotional activities in more than 30 countries, strengthening relationships with U.S. cotton’s customers and developing new avenues for U.S. cotton and product exports.

Textile delegations from two key markets, China and Vietnam, met with U.S. industry officials during the COTTON USA Special Trade Missions. Participating companies consume about 3.5 million bales of cotton annually, with U.S. cotton’s share equaling 1.6 million bales.

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Key U.S. cotton customers participated in COTTON USA Special Trade Missions.

The Cotton School in China, a seminar series executed by CCI with the support of the American Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA) and American Cotton Marketing Cooperatives (AMCOT), educated quota-eligible cotton buyers in China on trade rules/U.S. cotton sourcing.

The U.S. cotton booths at the home and apparel Intertextile Shanghai shows celebrated cotton as the natural choice for consumers and featured COTTON USA licensees’ latest collections.

The COTTON USA Buyers Tour to China and Vietnam streamlined the sourcing process for participating brands and retailers, enabling European, Japanese and U.S. brands and retailers to explore the advantages of sourcing garments made of U.S. cotton and processed in China and Southeast Asia.

Four innovative Chinese designers showcased their cotton fashions during CCI and Cotton Incorporated’s “COTTON-BEYOND YOUR IMAGINATIONTM” Road Show in China. The program stimulates consumer preference for cotton goods in the world’s fastest growing consumer market.

A NCC leadership team visited China to continue building a relationship with U.S. raw cotton’s number one customer.

The Cotton’s Revolutions conference in Dubai brought together different segments of the U.S. cotton supply chain to address key issues facing the industry, and to provide a forum for buyers and sellers to meet and conduct business.

CCI expanded the outreach of its generic program in India through “Cool with Cotton” media workshops.The “Cool with Cotton” campaign, branded with Cotton Incorporated’s Seal of Cotton, has amplified consumer awareness of the benefits of cotton vs. synthetics.

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Fucsia, a fashion magazine in Colombia and a strategic partner of COTTON USA, marked the launch of a new consumer promotion that included photos of this model in California cotton fields.

A record number of mill executives learned about risk management in cotton buying during COTTON USA’s 2nd national seminar for the Turkish spinning industry. The program focused on factors that influence option pricing, hedging choices and option strategies for textile mills.

A Turkish TV channel publicized a COTTON USA interview, focusing on recent Lifestyle Monitor research on consumer shopping habits to 40,000 executives.

With a free trade agreement pending, Colombiamoda and the 20th annual Colombiatex trade show took on new meaning. U.S. mills promoted U.S. cotton yarn and fabric at the COTTON USA Sourcing booths.

“Cotton’s Revolutions” was a key initiative that brought brands, retailers, mills, manufacturers, exporters and producers together to discuss the effects of short and long-term developments in global business and society. This strategic thinking initiative makes use of the “Seven Revolutions” framework developed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to identify global trends, and the factors that influence them, through 2025. Four focus groups held worldwide led cotton industry leaders to identify resources, technology and governance as the three revolutions most relevant for further exploration, and culminated in a global focus group in Texas to probe resource use and sustainability in the cotton textile supply chain.

The biennial Sourcing USA Summit in Austin, TX, gathered 215 CEOs from top cotton buying mills representing 30 countries, as well as 150 U.S. cotton exporters and agents. This popular cotton business forum was organized by CCI and Cotton Incorporated and funded by a combined effort of the U.S. cotton industry and USDA.

CCI’s innovative U.S. cotton promotion events actively involve customers throughout the world to build demand for cotton versus synthetics. Because the U.S. cotton industry’s size and profitability depends on exports, CCI will persist in building relationships at each point in the supply chain to increase preference for cotton and U.S. cotton products.

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The 2008 Sourcing USA Summit near Austin, TX, attracted 149 CEOs from top cotton buying mills representing 22 countries as well as 131 U.S. cotton exporters and agents.

That mission is being supported solidly by the NCC; Cotton Incorporated; ACSA; AMCOT; the Committee for Cotton Research; ICE Futures U.S.; the National Cottonseed Products Association; Plains Cotton Growers, Inc.; San Joaquin Valley Quality Cotton Growers Association; Southern Cotton Growers, Inc.; Supima; USDA; U.S. cotton yarn and textile manufacturers; and COTTON USA Mark licensees worldwide.