Peush Narang, Program Representative of COTTON USA replied to a couple of questions from the Textile Value Chain.
What is the future of cotton from the USA at a time cotton is highly in demand in India?
Sales for U.S. cotton reflect strong demand. The mills want to buy cotton which is good quality, consistent and gives them good efficiency, and that exactly is what U.S. cotton has been delivering for many years. Now we have a COTTON USA SOLUTIONSTM technical team which is helping the mills with what they can expect from the quality of U.S. cotton and also help them plan better. Our SOLUTIONS team can also guide them operationally in terms of what changes they could do to improve their efficiency. Our team of SOLUTIONS experts has created five business-building programs, providing unmatched expertise informed by work with over 1,500 mills in 50 countries. Our programs are complimentary for customers who are COTTON USATM licensees or U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol® members.
In terms of sustainability, the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol® sets a new standard for more sustainably grown cotton. Aligned with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, the Trust Protocol brings quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to more sustainable cotton production and drives continuous improvement in six key sustainability metrics – land use, soil carbon, water management, soil loss, greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency.
This is what exactly consumers are looking for and what the U.S. cotton industry is offering.
What trends do you see in cotton and other fibres?
I think the recent trend what we are seeing now is that people are switching to blends to meet the economics. But in India, cotton has a strong future because the industry has full faith that cotton will remain the engine of growth in the textile industry. The recent announcement made by the honorable Ministry of Finance on April 13, 2022 to exempt the import duty on cotton until Sept. 30, 2022, is a welcome step for the textile industry. Thanks to the Indian cotton associations and the textile associations who have collaborated on behalf of Indian textile industry. I think mills will be much happier as they now have access to quality U.S. cotton and this will be good for spinners.
