Annual U.S. Pima exports have risen from less than 100,000 bales in the early 1980's to nearly 400,000 bales a year in the 1990's. More recently, domestic use of American Pima cotton has enjoyed similar growth, increasing from about 65,000 bales of annual consumption in the first half of the 1990's to averaging more than 125,000 bales per year in the last five years of the decade. And though global consumption of extra-long staple (ELS) cotton has declined somewhat in the last two marketing years, exports have remained above the 1-million-bale threshold for the fourth straight season. Despite the overall drop in total ELS cotton usage, current season ELS exports are expected to hit their highest mark in six years. This development bodes well for U.S. Pima, which earned the distinction of being the leading ELS cotton exporter in eight of the past 10 marketing years.