The objective of this study was to compare the cost of cotton ginning in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas with the cost of cotton ginning in Tamaulipas, Mexico. GINMODEL, an economic-engineering model, was used to simulate the representative gins from both regions.

The results of the study indicate that the costs per bale of cotton ginning in Tamaulipas are higher than in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The two major reasons for the higher costs were due to lower ginning volumes and inefficient use of hourly labor in Mexico.