Cotton System Consumption and Stocks ISSN: 2378-2471 Released March 1, 2018, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Highlights December 2017 contained 31 days. January 2018 contained 31 days. Extra long staple cotton consumed on the cotton system was 1.12 million pounds in January 2018, up 31 percent from December 2017 but down 15 percent from January 2017. January 2018 stocks on hand on the last Saturday of the month totaled 1.25 million pounds down 11 percent from December 2017 but up 1 percent from January 2017. Total Manmade fiber consumed on the cotton system was 34.5 million pounds during January 2018, up 24 percent from December 2017 and up 7 percent from January 2017. Of the total manmade fiber consumed, 89 percent was polyester staple. Total number of spindles on the cotton system was 1.31 million during January 2018. Active spindles consuming 100 percent cotton was 693 thousand in January 2018, down 5 percent from December 2017 and down 7 percent from January 2017. Consumption and Stocks - United States: January 2018 with Comparisons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item : January 2017 : December 2017 : January 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Extra long staple : Consumed : Running bales ....................................number: 2,604 1,715 2,256 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,325 858 1,124 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) : Running bales ....................................number: 2,469 2,832 2,504 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,232 1,410 1,249 : Rayon and acetate staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,815 733 1,072 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 2,306 921 1,393 : Polyester staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 27,936 25,932 30,723 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 23,250 21,379 18,900 : Other manmade fiber staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 2,635 1,125 2,733 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 3,049 2,315 2,443 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spindles in Place, Active Spindles and Spindle Hours Operated - United States: January 2018 with Comparisons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item : January 2017 : December 2017 : January 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cotton-system spindles in place : Ring spindles .......................................1,000: 947 949 949 Airjet spindles .....................................1,000: 33 33 33 Open-end spindles ...................................1,000: 336 315 324 : Cotton-system spindles active : Spindles consuming 100% cotton ......................1,000: 748 728 693 million hours: 531 416 528 Spindles consuming 100% manmade fiber ...............1,000: 31 38 43 million hours: 12 15 24 Spindles consuming mixtures or blends ...............1,000: 518 509 533 million hours: 370 295 394 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 Environmental, Economics, and Demographics Branch of the National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact for additional information. E-mail inquiries may be sent to nass@nass.usda.gov. Jody McDaniel, Chief, Environmental, Economics, and Demographics Branch.. (202) 720-6146 Scott Shimmin, Head, Environmental and Demographics Section.............. (202) 720-0684 Stephanie Brennan - Census of Agriculture ............................ (202) 690-0392 Natasha Bruton - Current Agricultural Industrial Reports.............. (202) 720-7644 David Colwell - Current Agricultural Industrial Reports............... (202) 690-3226 Doug Farmer - Vegetable Chemical Use.................................. (202) 720-7492 Joseph Hagedorn - Census of Agriculture............................... (202) 690-2284 Virginia Harris - Census of Agriculture............................... (502) 582-5293 Dominique Sims - Census of Agriculture................................ 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