As sourcing executives are navigating and preparing for numerous uncertainties—with impending tariffs at the top of the watch list—cotton offers constancy in an evolving environment, according to a Cotton Incorporated executive.
During Sourcing Journal’s Fall Summit, Mark Messura, senior vice president, global supply chain marketing at Cotton Incorporated, sat down for a one-on-one chat with Sourcing Journal editor-in-chief Peter Sadera to discuss the state of material sourcing. While there are ebbs and flows in the market, Messura noted that cotton is well positioned to tackle some of the industry’s current issues.
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“Cotton has been around for thousands of years,” said Messura. “Cotton Incorporated now a little over 50 years promoting…world cotton. But over that time, there have been changes in the geography of sourcing, prices, to be sure. But what’s not changed is innovation.”
Messura noted that non-financial cost considerations—including the environment and regulations—are influencing textile demand as well as where and how companies source materials and goods. “The sourcing objective has always been to look for low cost, good quality, reliable delivery, but that cost equation is changing, and it’s not simply the cost of labor or the cost of the goods,” he said.
Cotton is a global crop, with growers situated in 64 countries, and Messura explained that this broad map creates “stability.” Although the fiber is diversified, China is the biggest player, representing 24 percent of global production, and much of this cotton farming occurs in the Xinjiang Uyhghur Autonomous Region that has come under scrutiny for systemic forced labor. A manufacturing powerhouse, the country is also the largest consumer and importer of raw cotton, and a significant portion of that internationally sourced fiber comes from the United States.
Because of this connection between the U.S. and China in cotton supply chains, prices for American-grown cotton could be impacted if the trade war reignites during the next Trump term. For instance, this could mean lower prices if trade opportunities and demand for U.S. cotton within China cool, and this softening could extend globally since U.S. movements often sway broader pricing trends. This could also create an opening for Brazil—which has risen from second place to become the top exporter—to fill some of the gaps.
Cotton pricing has recently dipped. As of November, cotton prices had shifted about 10 percent lower from previous months, with the A Index for global pricing sitting at 83 cents per pound on Nov. 11 right ahead of the Summit. U.S. farmers are only seeing prices around 66 cents, which falls under what it often costs to produce the fiber, creating financial strain. Looking at long-term trends, pricing has not moved considerably from where it was about a decade ago. “The world cotton market cycles up and down as prices provide an incentive to get farmers to plant more, and then higher prices kind of cure that, and prices go down, and then farmers plant less,” said Messura. “So we’re in that cycle.”
Another challenge for farmers is climate change, which has led to major weather events that have impacted cotton production and yield, such as extreme flooding and droughts. Amid these hurdles, it has also created new opportunities for cotton growing, as the regions with suitable conditions expand. For instance, in recent years, the region of the U.S. hospitable to cotton extended north to include Kansas.
Consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of their choices, and cotton offers a sustainability story. When cotton products reach the end of their life cycle, there are multiple circular paths they can take. Cotton can be used for textile-to-textile recycling, however fibers can only be shredded and spun into new textiles so many times before the fibers get too short and quality and strength suffers. If cotton items aren’t suitable for new textiles, they can be recycled into nonwoven goods or other non-textile products. Cotton is also biodegradable and compostable, allowing it to return to soil.
“The world is paying attention to textile waste, and that is going to drive decisions about production and sourcing, and right down to what ingredients get used,” said Messura.
