MEMPHIS, Tenn. — September 25, 2023 — Textile manufacturing executives representing 15 countries will visit the U.S. Cotton Belt September 30-October 7 on the 42nd COTTON USA Orientation Tour.
Sponsored by Cotton Council International (CCI), the export promotions arm of the Memphis-based National Cotton Council (NCC), the Orientation Tour’s major objectives are to increase U.S. cotton customers’ awareness of the types/qualities of U.S. cotton, help them gain a better understanding of U.S. marketing practices and enhance their relationships with U.S. exporters. More than 900 textile executives from more than 60 countries have participated in this biennial tour initiated in 1968.
CCI President Steve Dyer, a Cordova, Tenn., merchant said: “The COTTON USA Orientation Tour is vital to U.S. cotton export performance. For over half a century, this event has enabled our industry to showcase our high-quality U.S. cotton fiber to important international spinners as well as build and strengthen relationships with these customers.”
This year’s Orientation Tour includes executives representing 27 companies in Bangladesh, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. These manufacturers expect to consume 5.7 million bales of cotton in 2023, while an estimated 2.9 million bales of U.S. cotton will be exported to those countries. This represents about 23 percent of U.S. cotton export sales, making these companies some of U.S. cotton’s largest customers.
The Orientation Tour participants will visit a Mid-South cotton farm and gin; tour a farm and cotton warehouse in Texas; tour a Pima cotton farm in California; observe cotton research in North Carolina and Mississippi, and tour the USDA cotton classing office in Bartlett, Tenn. They will meet with U.S. cotton exporters and get briefings from CCI, the NCC, Cotton Incorporated, ACSA, the Texas Cotton Association, the Lubbock Cotton Exchange, Amcot, the American Cotton Producers, the Delta Council, Plains Cotton Growers Inc., the Western Cotton Shippers Association and Supima. These meetings will offer ample opportunities for U.S. cotton industry representatives to strengthen relationships with some of U.S. cotton’s top customers and impact export sales.
Posted September 26, 2023
Source: Cotton Council International/Cotton USA
