Cotton System Consumption and Stocks ISSN: 2378-2471 Released January 4, 2016, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Highlights September 2015 contained 30 days. October 2015 contained 31 days. November 2015 contained 30 days. Extra long staple cotton consumed on the cotton system was 867 thousand pounds in November 2015, down 16 percent from October 2015 but up 5 percent from September 2015. November stocks on hand on the last Saturday of the month totaled 1.6 million pounds down 11 percent from October 2015and down 26 percent from September 2015. Total Manmade fiber consumed on the cotton system was 28.7 million pounds during November 2015, down 11 percent from October 2015 and down 18 percent from September 2015. Of the total manmade fiber consumed, 91 percent was polyester staple. Total number of spindles on the cotton system was 1.13 million during November 2015. Active spindles consuming 100 percent cotton was 604 thousand in November 2015, up 3 percent from October 2015 and up 2 percent from September 2015. Consumption and Stocks - United States: September 2015 - November 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item :September 2015 : October 2015 : November 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Extra long staple : Consumed : Running bales ....................................number: 1,652 2,070 1,736 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 826 1,036 867 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) : Running bales ....................................number: 4,390 3,647 3,241 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 2,188 1,818 1,617 : Rayon and acetate staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 598 702 925 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: (D) 1,669 1,624 : Polyester staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 30,000 29,632 25,997 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 27,190 22,630 21,305 : Other manmade fiber staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 4,253 2,084 1,791 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 3,719 3,021 2,732 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. Spindles in Place, Active Spindles and Spindle Hours Operated - United States: September 2015 - November 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item :September 2015 : October 2015 : November 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cotton-system spindles in place : Ring spindles .......................................1,000: 736 736 736 Airjet spindles .....................................1,000: 30 30 30 Open-end spindles ...................................1,000: 364 365 365 : Cotton-system spindles active : Spindles consuming 100% cotton ......................1,000: 591 589 604 million hours: 407 452 370 Spindles consuming 100% manmade fiber ...............1,000: 33 36 30 million hours: 19 21 15 Spindles consuming mixtures or blends ...............1,000: 445 437 444 million hours: 300 319 288 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. The first annual summary will be published in March of 2016. 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. Troy Joshua, Chief, Environmental, Economics, and Demographics Branch.. (202) 720-6146 Scott Shimmin, Head, Environmental and Demographics Section............ (202) 720-0684 Stephanie Brennan - Field Crops Chemical Use ....................... (202) 690-0392 Natasha Bruton - Current Agricultural Industrial Reports............ (202) 720-7644 Ryan Cowen - Farms, Land in Farms, Census of Agriculture............ (202) 690-3233 Doug Farmer - Vegetable Chemical Use................................ (202) 720-7492 Virginia Harris - Census of Agriculture............................. (502) 582-5293 Miste Salmon - Current Agricultural Industrial Reports.............. (202) 690-3226 Dominique Sims - Census of Agriculture.............................. (202) 690-4752 Theresa Varner - Farm Labor, Chemical Use........................... 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