Cotton Council International (CCI) -- the Washington-based export promotion arm of The National Cotton Council, Memphis, Tenn. -- recently sent a Cotton USA delegation of eight U.S. cotton producers to Mexico, Honduras and Peru to meet with local textile and apparel industry representatives. The delegation was organized in an effort to promote the U.S. cotton industry's commitment to supplying the Latin American region with cotton fiber and value-added products. According to CCI, U.S. cotton fiber and textile trade with Mexico, the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) region and the Andean region amounted to approximately 4.7 million bales in 2008-09.

The trip included briefings from CCI and Cary, N.C.-based Cotton Incorporated as well as overviews of the Mexican, CBI, Honduran, Andean and Peruvian textile and apparel industries. The delegation also toured mills including a plant outside of Mexico City; Montreal-based Gildan Activewear Inc.'s knitting and sewing plant near San Pedro Sula, Honduras; and two of the Andean Region's biggest mills, Topy Top S.A. and Compañía Industrial Nuevo Mundo S.A., both located in Lima, Peru.

August 10, 2010