Cotton System Consumption and Stocks ISSN: 2378-2471 Released June 1, 2018, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Highlights March 2018 contained 31 days. April 2018 contained 30 days. Extra long staple cotton consumed on the cotton system was 1.05 million pounds in April 2018, down 3 percent from March 2018 and down 15 percent from April 2017. April 2018 stocks on hand on the last Saturday of the month totaled 1.65 million pounds up 3 percent from March 2018 but unchanged from April 2017. Total Manmade fiber consumed on the cotton system was 38.4 million pounds during April 2018, up 1 percent from March 2018 and up 20 percent from April 2017. Of the total manmade fiber consumed, 93 percent was polyester staple. Total number of spindles on the cotton system was 1.30 million during April 2018. Active spindles consuming 100 percent cotton was 673 thousand in April 2018, down 7 percent from March 2018 and down 5 percent from April 2017. Consumption and Stocks - United States: April 2018 with Comparisons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item : April 2017 : March 2018 : April 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Extra long staple : Consumed : Running bales ....................................number: 2,468 2,156 2,104 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,234 1,077 1,048 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) : Running bales ....................................number: 3,302 3,200 3,298 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,647 1,600 1,647 : Rayon and acetate staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 802 1,024 971 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 1,818 551 908 : Polyester staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 29,244 35,598 35,701 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 32,050 18,686 20,730 : Other manmade fiber staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,855 1,570 1,742 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 1,898 2,905 2,941 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spindles in Place, Active Spindles and Spindle Hours Operated - United States: April 2018 with Comparisons ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item : April 2017 : March 2018 : April 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cotton-system spindles in place : Ring spindles .......................................1,000: 949 952 952 Airjet spindles .....................................1,000: 33 33 33 Open-end spindles ...................................1,000: 336 319 319 : Cotton-system spindles active : Spindles consuming 100% cotton ......................1,000: 709 722 673 million hours: 481 506 511 Spindles consuming 100% manmade fiber ...............1,000: 39 41 41 million hours: 21 23 24 Spindles consuming mixtures or blends ...............1,000: 538 518 563 million hours: 394 348 420 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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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