Textile executives representing 20 companies from Indonesia will travel across the US Cotton Belt on July 21-25 to gain a deeper understanding of why US cotton is the world’s preferred fibre. The Cotton USA Special Trade Mission is coordinated by Cotton Council International (CCI), the National Cotton Council’s (NCC) export promotions arm. Indonesia currently is the fifth largest market for US cotton. US export sales to that country are about 1.7 million bales for the 2018-19 marketing year. The tour’s participating companies collectively consume about 2.1 million bales, representing 64 per cent of total cotton consumption in Indonesia whose textile mills are expected to import some 3.2 million bales in 2018-19, said Cotton USA in a press release. “The tour participants represent an important market for US cotton and we want them to see firsthand US cotton’s first-class production and processing operations and efforts on environmental responsibility and continuous improvement, including the new US Cotton Trust Protocol,” said CCI president Hank Reichle, a Mississippi cooperative executive. “From this tour, these Indonesian textile manufacturers should acquire a better appreciation of US cotton fibre’s premium value and how it can make their operations more competitive in the world marketplace. Our hope is that the multiple face-to-face meetings with US cotton exporters will strengthen relationships with these customers.” The Indonesian delegation will begin its tour in New York with a CCI briefing and an ICE Futures seminar. They will see cotton research in North Carolina and tour the USDA cotton classing office in Bartlett, Tennessee, and visit a cotton farm, gin and warehouse in South Texas. The group also will meet with exporters in the Cotton Belt’s four major regions and with these industry organisations: AMCOT, American Cotton Producers, American Cotton Shippers Association, Cotton Incorporated, Lubbock Cotton Exchange, the NCC, Plains Cotton Growers, Inc, Southern Cotton Growers Association, Texas Cotton Association, Western Cotton Shippers Association and Supima.
