Values Placed on US Cotton-fiber Attributes by Textile Manufacturers

Abstract

Price premiums and discounts paid for cotton quality attributes (trash, color, length, strength, and micronaire) by textile manufacturers were derived for three US cotton production regions. The data for the analysis were individual contracts of textile firm purchases representing about 26% of US cotton production and 41% of the cotton used by mills over the 1992–early 1995 period. All fiber attributes except strength significantly affected prices paid by mills for cotton from the Western, South Central, and Southern production regions. Price premiums and discounts for all fiber attributes differed between Western and South Central cottons. Region differences in price premiums and discounts between the West and South were found for length and micronaire, but little difference was found between the Southern and South Central regions for any fiber attribute except micronaire. The information obtained from the study provides better understanding of cotton pricing structures relative to quality attributes in the textile mill market.