LAHORE: Ten US cotton organisations have pledged industry contributions in 2018 to support the demand-building activities of Cotton Council International (CCI), the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) export promotion arm, headquartered in Washington, D.C.

“Our growers believe that contributing to CCI is an investment in the future of our industry and ultimately is essential to our success,” Plains Cotton Growers Executive Vice President Steve Verett said.

“The work they do is vital to helping ensure that the rest of the world knows why U.S. cotton is a superior product and worthy of sourcing. The fact that 80 percent of U.S. cotton is exported highlights the critical need for a healthy export market.”

US cotton industry contributions help CCI to build export markets for US cotton fibre, yarn and other cotton products, and are an invaluable supplement to the funding from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service’s Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) program. CCI is the largest recipient of MAP and FMD funding to promote U.S. cotton overseas.

CCI’s use of funds from USDA and U.S. cotton organizations has enabled it to build U.S. cotton export demand efficiently and to improve the economic returns of 18,500 cotton farms in the United States.

CCI promotes US cotton in more than 50 countries under its COTTON USA™ trademark. Last year alone, buyers and sellers throughout the global textile supply chain conducted more than 2,100 business meetings at COTTON USA events aimed at increasing exports of U.S. cotton.

Export markets are critical to the US cotton industry, as nearly all cotton grown in the United States is exported either in the form of fibre or cotton yarn. —PR