Cotton System Consumption and Stocks ISSN: 2378-2471 Released May 1, 2020, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Highlights February 2020 contained 29 days. March 2020 contained 31 days. Extra long staple cotton consumed on the cotton system was 729,000 pounds in March 2020, down 12 percent from February 2020 and down 27 percent from March 2019. March 2020 stocks on hand on the last Saturday of the month totaled 794,000 pounds, down 19 percent from February 2020 and down 49 percent from March 2019. Total Manmade fiber consumed on the cotton system was 27.8 million pounds during March 2020, down 10 percent from February 2020 and down 26 percent from March 2019. Of the total manmade fiber consumed, 93 percent was polyester staple. Total number of spindles on the cotton system was 1.23 million during March 2020. Active spindles consuming 100 percent cotton was 669,000 in March 2020, up 13 percent from February 2020 and up 5 percent from March 2019. Consumption and Stocks - United States: March 2020 with Comparisons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item : March 2019 : February 2020 : March 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Extra long staple : Consumed : Running bales ....................................number: 1,994 1,691 1,484 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 994 826 729 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) : Running bales ....................................number: 3,113 1,968 1,604 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,562 976 794 : Rayon and acetate staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 840 989 578 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 2,306 914 600 : Polyester staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 35,204 28,472 25,830 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 27,452 29,433 28,323 : Other manmade fiber staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,640 1,512 1,353 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 2,910 1,779 2,193 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spindles in Place, Active Spindles and Spindle Hours Operated - United States: March 2020 with Comparisons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item : March 2019 : February 2020 : March 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cotton-system spindles in place : Ring spindles .......................................1,000: 952 917 917 Airjet spindles .....................................1,000: 35 26 26 Open-end spindles ...................................1,000: 311 287 290 : Cotton-system spindles active : Spindles consuming 100% cotton ......................1,000: 638 593 669 million hours: 450 400 357 Spindles consuming 100% manmade fiber ...............1,000: 42 40 33 million hours: 25 23 18 Spindles consuming mixtures or blends ...............1,000: 538 539 451 million hours: 357 348 232 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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@nass.usda.gov. 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....... 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