Cotton System Consumption and Stocks ISSN: 2378-2471 Released May 1, 2024, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Highlights February 2024 contained 29 days. March 2024 contained 31 days. Extra long staple cotton consumed on the cotton system was 331,000 pounds in March 2024, down 35 percent from February 2024 but up 31 percent from March 2023. March 2024 stocks on hand on the last Saturday of the month totaled 0.65 million pounds, up 23 percent from February 2024 but down 60 percent from March 2023. Total Manmade fiber consumed on the cotton system was 14.3 million pounds during March 2024, up 8 percent from February 2024 but down 52 percent from March 2023. Of the total manmade fiber consumed, 93 percent was polyester staple. Total number of spindles on the cotton system was 753,000 during March 2024. Active spindles consuming 100 percent cotton was 413,000 in March 2024, down less than 1 percent from February 2024 and down 20 percent from March 2023. Consumption and Stocks - United States: March 2024 with Comparisons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item : March 2023 : February 2024 : March 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Extra long staple : Consumed : Running bales ....................................number: 510 1,023 758 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 253 507 331 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) : Running bales ....................................number: 3,266 1,070 1,307 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,621 528 652 : Rayon and acetate staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 790 309 349 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 4,406 3,516 (D) : Polyester staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 27,821 12,370 13,364 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 29,666 28,405 26,845 : Other manmade fiber staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,168 606 616 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 1,882 1,249 1,205 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. Spindles in Place, Active Spindles and Spindle Hours Operated - United States: March 2024 with Comparisons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item : March 2023 : February 2024 : March 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cotton-system spindles in place : Ring spindles .......................................1,000: 713 520 520 Airjet spindles .....................................1,000: 20 20 20 Open-end spindles ...................................1,000: 240 213 213 : Cotton-system spindles active : Spindles consuming 100% cotton ......................1,000: 518 415 413 million hours: 321 282 287 Spindles consuming 100% manmade fiber ...............1,000: 26 22 22 million hours: 15 9 9 Spindles consuming mixtures or blends ...............1,000: 371 254 255 million hours: 215 140 142 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 nass@usda.gov Nick Streff, Acting Chief, Crops Branch............................................... (202) 720-2127 Chris Hawthorn, Head, Field Crops Section............................................. (202) 720-2127 Irwin Anolik - Crop Progress and Condition....................................... (202) 720-7621 Joshua Bates - Hemp, Oats, Soybeans.............................................. (202) 690-3234 Natasha Bruton - Barley, Cotton System Consumption, and Stocks, Grain Crushings.. (202) 690-1042 David Colwell - Fats and Oils, Flour Milling Products............................ (202) 720-8800 Michelle Harder -County Estimates, Hay........................................... (202) 690-8533 James Johanson - Rye, Wheat...................................................... (202) 720-8068 Greg Lemmons - Corn, Flaxseed, Proso Millet...................................... (202) 720-9526 Becky Sommer - Cotton, Cotton Ginnings, Sorghum................................. (202) 720-5944 Travis Thorson - Sunflower, Other Oilseeds....................................... (202) 720-7369 Chris Hawthorn - Peanuts, Rice................................................... (202) 720-2127 Access to NASS Reports For your convenience, you may access NASS reports and products the following ways: All reports are available electronically, at no cost, on the NASS web site: www.nass.usda.gov. Both national and state specific reports are available via a free e- mail subscription. To set-up this free subscription, visit www.nass.usda.gov and click on "National" or "State" in upper right corner above "search" box to create an account and select the reports you would like to receive. Cornell's Mann Library has launched a new website housing NASS's and other agency's archived reports. The new website, https://usda.library.cornell.edu. 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