The 1997/98 cotton marketing season marks the second consecutive year of increased world consumption of extra-long staple (ELS) cotton, after 10 years of declining usage. It also is the first season since 1993 that the world consumed more than 3 million bales of ELS cotton. As consumers continue to demonstrate a preference for better quality apparel and home textile goods, consumption of this rare but precious fiber will rise by 6% during the current marketing year, following an increase of 12% last season. And the U.S. is once again the leader among world ELS cotton exporters, a distinction it has held in eight of the last nine marketing seasons.