US Cotton Sales To Vietnam Increase Sharply Following Special Trade Mission

A recent Cotton USA Special Trade Mission (STM) from Vietnam brought 11 textile mill executives and officials from Vietnamese government and textile agencies to the United States to tour the Cotton Belt and meet with US industry officials. Washington-based Cotton Council International sponsored the tour, which included briefings by officials from US industry organizations, CCI and the Memphis, Tenn.-based National Cotton Council; a seminar with the ICE Futures US, the US futures trading arm of Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange® (ICE); and tours of a farm, gin, warehouse, merchandising enterprise, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) classing office and Cotton Incorporated’s Cary, N.C.-based world headquarters and research facilities.

Vietnamese companies represented by executives on the tour consume 260,000 bales of cotton, of which US cotton accounts for more than half of total sales, and the country is considered to be a significant growth market for cotton fiber sales, according to CCI. The tour immediately generated sales of 2,540 metric tons of US cotton, valued at $6.7 million, to Vietnamese textile mills, with additional orders anticipated. In the week following the STM, US Upland cotton sales to Vietnam represented approximately half of total export sales, a significant increase over the 3.5-percent average export sales since the beginning of the marketing year, reported the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in the June 26, 2008, US Export Sales Report.

"Our members have witnessed and gained full understanding of cotton production, ginning, classification, merchandising, risk management, options, etc. in the US," said Vu Duc Giang, vice chairman, Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, and general manager, Vietnam Textile and Garment Group. "We were also impressed by the efficient and effective structure, operation and cooperation of all organizations within the cotton industry. All of these have contributed to the 'No. 1 product' status of the US cotton in global market."

The Cotton USA STM was funded in part by the USDA's Market Access Program.