Cotton System Consumption and Stocks ISSN: 2378-2471 Released May 1, 2015, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Highlights January 2015 contained 31 days. February 2015 contained 28 days. March 2015 contained 31 days. Extra long staple cotton consumed on the cotton system was 1 million pounds in March 2015, down 4 percent from February 2015 and down 16 percent from January 2015. March stocks on hand on the last Saturday of the month totaled 1.2 million pounds up 9 percent from February but down 31 percent from January. Total Manmade fiber consumed on the cotton system was 31.9 million pounds during March 2015, up 45 percent from February 2015 and up 21 percent from January 2015. Of the total manmade fiber consumed, over 87 percent was polyester staple. Total number of spindles on the cotton system was 1.09 million during March 2015, down 2 percent from February 2015 and down 1 percent from January 2015. Active spindles consuming 100 percent cotton was 597 thousand in March 2015, up 1 percent from February 2015 and up 2 percent from January 2015. Consumption and Stocks - United States: January 2015 - March 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item : January 2015 : February 2015 : March 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Extra long staple : Consumed : Running bales ....................................number: 2,397 2,081 2,001 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,186 1,041 1,000 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) : Running bales ....................................number: 3,480 2,211 2,413 Weight .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,741 1,106 1,206 : Rayon and acetate staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 636 742 758 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 494 661 575 : Polyester staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 23,790 18,683 27,839 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 19,827 18,936 19,923 : Other manmade fiber staple : Consumed .....................................1,000 pounds: 1,828 2,514 3,281 Stocks on hand (last Saturday of the month) ..1,000 pounds: 1,670 5,588 2,798 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spindles in Place, Active Spindles and Spindle Hours Operated - United States: January 2015 - March 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Item : January 2015 : February 2015 : March 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cotton-system spindles in place : Ring spindles .......................................1,000: 733 733 733 Airjet spindles .....................................1,000: 29 30 29 Open-end spindles ...................................1,000: 332 339 323 : Cotton-system spindles active : Spindles consuming 100% cotton ......................1,000: 584 593 597 million hours: 448 391 438 Spindles consuming 100% manmade fiber ...............1,000: 25 34 23 million hours: 15 20 13 Spindles consuming mixtures or blends ...............1,000: 477 460 469 million hours: 346 292 291 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 David Colwell - Current Agricultural Industrial Reports............. (202) 690-3233 Doug Farmer - Vegetable Chemical Use................................ (202) 720-7492 Ginger Harris - Census of Agriculture............................... (502) 582-5293 Steve Peterson - Farms, Land in Farms, Census of Agriculture........ (202) 720-5581 Jackie Ross - Census of Agriculture................................. (202) 720-7644 Miste Salmon - Current Agricultural Industrial Reports.............. (202) 690-3226 Theresa Varner - Farm Labor, Chemical Use........................... (202) 690-2284 Access to NASS Reports For your convenience, you may access NASS reports and products the following ways: All reports are available electronically, at no cost, on the NASS web site: http://www.nass.usda.gov Both national and state specific reports are available via a free e- mail subscription. To set-up this free subscription, visit http://www.nass.usda.gov and in the "Follow NASS" box under "Receive reports by Email," click on "National" or "State" to select the reports you would like to receive. For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Agricultural Statistics Hotline at (800) 727-9540, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, or e-mail: nass@nass.usda.gov. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.) If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form (PDF), found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov.