The 72nd plenary meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) used its first open session to address what it claims to be the cotton industry's single greatest threat: synthetic fibres.

During the session, which was entitled "Inter-fibre Competition: Meeting the Challenges of Competing Fibres," the expert panel identified three primary areas of concern that are impacting cotton's long-term ability to succeed in the marketplace: price volatility, as natural fibres are less stable pricewise than their synthetic counterparts; quality control, as cotton characteristics can vary greatly from one bale to the next; and loss of market share to synthetic competitors.

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