Cotton System Consumption and Stocks - Monthly Publication

Cotton System Consumption and
Stocks
ISSN: 2378-2471

Released April 1, 2020, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA).

Highlights

January 2020 contained 31 days.
February 2020 contained 29 days.
Extra long staple cotton consumed on the cotton system was 826,000 pounds in February 2020, up 8 percent from
January 2020 but down 10 percent from February 2019. February 2020 stocks on hand on the last Saturday of the month
totaled 976,000 pounds, up 22 percent from January 2020 but down 43 percent from February 2019.
Total Manmade fiber consumed on the cotton system was 31.0 million pounds during February 2020, down 4 percent
from January 2020 and down 7 percent from February 2019. Of the total manmade fiber consumed, 92 percent was
polyester staple.
Total number of spindles on the cotton system was 1.23 million during February 2020. Active spindles consuming
100 percent cotton was 593,000 in February 2020, down 9 percent from January 2020 and down 9 percent from
February 2019.

Consumption and Stocks – United States: February 2020 with Comparisons
Item
Extra long staple
Consumed
Running bales ...................................................................................... number
Weight .........................................................................................1,000 pounds
Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month)
Running bales ...................................................................................... number
Weight .........................................................................................1,000 pounds

February 2019

January 2020

February 2020

1,852
918

1,531
763

1,691
826

3,403
1,702

1,599
799

1,968
976

Rayon and acetate staple
Consumed ......................................................................................1,000 pounds
Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ...................................1,000 pounds

694
2,130

964
1,282

989
914

Polyester staple
Consumed ......................................................................................1,000 pounds
Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ...................................1,000 pounds

31,034
26,448

28,686
34,554

28,472
29,433

Other manmade fiber staple
Consumed ......................................................................................1,000 pounds
Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ...................................1,000 pounds

1,739
3,141

2,623
2,587

1,512
1,779

Spindles in Place, Active Spindles and Spindle Hours Operated – United States: February 2020
with Comparisons
Item

February 2019

January 2020

February 2020

Cotton-system spindles in place
Ring spindles .............................................................................................. 1,000
Airjet spindles .............................................................................................. 1,000
Open-end spindles ...................................................................................... 1,000

952
35
311

917
26
285

917
26
287

Cotton-system spindles active
Spindles consuming 100% cotton ............................................................... 1,000
million hours
Spindles consuming 100% manmade fiber .................................................. 1,000
million hours
Spindles consuming mixtures or blends ...................................................... 1,000
million hours

653
429
42
20
532
328

649
503
37
21
490
351

593
400
40
23
539
348

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Cotton System Consumption and Stocks (April 2020)
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

Statistical Methodology
Survey Procedures: Cotton System Consumption and Stocks is part of the Current Agricultural Industrial Reports (CAIR)
program. CAIR reports are administered under NASS’s Census of Agriculture program. Response to CAIR surveys are
required by law (Title 7, U.S. Code). Data are collected from all known mills that consume cotton.
The census universe was determined during operation profile interviews which were completed for each potential facility
to identify the presence of cotton consumption and spindle activity in 2014.
In the Cotton and Manmade Fiber Staple survey questionnaires, mills are asked for previous calendar month data on
cotton and manmade fiber consumed, stocks and spindle activity. Mills are mailed questionnaires with the options of
completing the survey by mail or by Electronic Data Reporting (EDR). For surveys not received in a reasonable amount
of time, telephone follow-up is conducted.
Estimating Procedures: Imputation is done for operations with non-response by using historical data and current data
relationships. Data for reporting firms are added to estimates for non-reporting firms to obtain National totals.
Revision Policy: Data are revised the following month based on late reports or corrected data. Final figures are published
in the annual summary of the following year.
Reliability: Approximately 50 reports are received each month which represent about 95 percent of total spindles.
Monthly data can vary due to different firms reporting month to month. Survey data are also subject to non-sampling
errors such as omissions and mistakes in reporting and in processing the data. While these errors cannot be measured
directly, they are minimized by carefully reviewing all reported data for consistency and reasonableness.

Information Contacts
Listed below are the commodity statisticians in the Crops Branch of the National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact
for additional information. E-mail inquiries may be sent to [email protected].
Lance Honig, Chief, Crops Branch .................................................................................................................. (202) 720-2127
Chris Hawthorn, Head, Field Crops Section .................................................................................................... (202) 720-2127
David Colwell – Current Agricultural Industrial Reports ......................................................................... (202) 720-8800
Chris Hawthorn – Corn, Flaxseed, Proso Millet ....................................................................................... (202) 720-9526
James Johanson – County Estimates, Hay................................................................................................. (202) 690-8533
Jeff Lemmons – Oats, Soybeans ............................................................................................................... (202) 690-3234
Irwin Anolik – Crop Weather .................................................................................................................... (202) 720-7621
Chris Hawthorn – Peanuts, Rice ................................................................................................................ (202) 720-7688
Jean Porter – Rye, Wheat .......................................................................................................................... (202) 720-8068
Chris Singh – Cotton, Cotton Ginnings, Sorghum .................................................................................... (202) 720-5944
Travis Thorson – Barley, Sunflower, Other Oilseeds ............................................................................... (202) 720-7369

Cotton System Consumption and Stocks (April 2020)
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

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