Supply and demand issues dominate cotton summit
21/11/2012
He was one of the speakers at the recent cotton sourcing summit, held in California and attended by prominent textile manufacturers and cotton merchants, as well as companies along the global cotton supply chain.
About 400 delegates from 23 countries attended the event, which was organised by Cotton Council International and Cotton Incorporated, in cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture.
The issue of supply and demand shaped the programme, while panel discussions and presentations offered perspectives on cotton’s competitors in the commodity and textile arenas, the global economy and changing manufacturing, retail and consumer landscapes.
Craig Solberg, a senior meteorologist at Freese-Notis Weather, suggested the drought conditions affecting the US High Plains might continue for five to 10 years. This news was tempered somewhat by Doug Rushing, director of global industry affairs at agriculture giant Monsanto, who cited developments for cotton and corn varieties with enhanced drought tolerance characteristics.
A candid presentation by Dr John Cheh, vice-chairman and CEO of Esquel Group, a Chinese textile company, conjectured that the origins of the cotton price disruptions began with the end of quotas 10 years ago, and not with the run-up in pricing of two years ago. Mr Cheh said other distortions, including those caused by China’s cotton reserve policy, continue to complicate stable pricing.
Chris Callieri, principal for the consumer and retail practice at consultancy AT Kearney, addressed consumer-related opportunities. He identified consumer markets on the rise in Peru, Mongolia and the Middle East, in addition to Brazil, Russia, India and China, and suggested there were significant opportunities for collaboration across the textile supply chain.
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