2014/15 US cotton crop up 25%: USDA

16 Mar '15

4 min read

US domestic cotton consumption, which includes mill use plus net textile imports were marginally lower in calendar year 2014, surpassing 8.3 billion raw-fiber-equivalent pounds, or about 17.3 million bale-equivalents.

“The 2014 level represented a 1 per cent reduction from 2013 and was the second lowest retail cotton consumption estimate since 1996,” USDA said.

USDA explained by saying that cotton has lost share to manmade fibres in apparel and other product construction over the last several years.

As a result, 2014 US domestic cotton consumption was 23 per cent below its 2006 peak of 10.9 billion pounds, or 22.6 million bale-equivalents.

Cotton product trade was mixed in calendar year 2014. US cotton product imports reached 8.4 billion pounds, marginally below 2013.

On the other hand, cotton product exports were slightly higher in 2014, as the volume approached 1.8 billion pounds.

Meanwhile, US cotton mill use declined slightly to 1.7 billion pounds in 2014 and as a result, the per capita estimate of retail cotton consumption was also slightly below a year ago.

It declined half a pound to nearly 26 pounds, with mill use of cotton contributing just over 5 pounds of the total. (AR)

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