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Over the past couple of years American cotton has seed development and irrigation systems. Water
been greatly helping the Pakistan textile industry to today is very expensive and important – cannot be
William Bettendrof cope with challenges such as high production costs, wasted. In olden days, fields would be flooded but
now due to advanced technology, GPS has been
compliance requirements and cotton availability.
Currently, Pakistan is the 5th largest user of American
installed in tractors which helps in precision watering
highlights the cotton. Due to scarcity of local cotton Pakistan through drip irrigation. When the tractor goes over
imports approximately 1.5 million bales from the
the field, it applies the water specifically where it’s
United States. In Pakistan the local cotton production
required only. The same procedure is with the
fertilizing and chemical treatments for the plants.
is 10.5 million bales whereas the requirement is of
significance of over 15 million bales. This gap of 4.5 million bales is Also, a drone takes a picture of the field which is
analyzed through computers that generate a map of
covered by imported cotton from America, India,
Central Asian and other countries.
the field which show the exact location of application
Pakistani market Cotton Council International (CCI), the export requisition. This is the precision technology or
precision agriculture. It also reduces wastage. This
promotion arm of the National Cotton Council of
method is cost effective, environment friendly and
America (NCC), is a non-profit trade association that
reduced chemical wastage. Modern cultivation
for Cotton USA promotes U.S. cotton fiber and manufactured cotton produces much higher yields as well. Other countries
that use this technique includes Australia. Australia
products around the globe with the COTTON USA
and USA have also partnered to promote responsible
trademark. CCI has 60 years of experience
promoting U.S. cotton fiber and products to trade
and consumers. CCI works with spinning mills, fabric cotton production under the program called Cotton
Leeds. The program highlights a lot of cost savings.
and garment manufacturers, brands, retailers, textile
associations, governments and the USDA to facilitate Answering to a question, Mr Bettendrof told, it’s very
the use of U.S. cotton. CCI reach extends to more than difficult for cotton to compete against man-made
50 countries through 20 offices around the world. fibers but man-made fibers which include polyester
and synthetic fiber are not sustainable. Also the
At Heimtextil 2019, Mr Mazhar Hussain Mirza, Cotton dependency on artificial thread can be difficult for the
USA representative in Pakistan said that Pakistani coming generations due to rapid pollution caused by
textile mills prefer using US Cotton because of its landfills and pollution. We try our level best to show
various benefits which include contamination free, the relevance of cotton, its natural ways and how
each bale is labeled, traceability, transparency and special performance enhancements can be added to
high end yarn production. We are increasing our it. This is the concept behind “What’s New in Cotton”.
licensees in Pakistan on regular basis. In 2012, we The main idea is to show that cotton can outperform
had six licensees while in 2018, we had 63. American synthetics using advance technology to create
Cotton is more reliable, this is what they say. innovations which provide added benefits and
performance features.
Mr Mirza told, US Cotton has a capacity of 20 million
bales which includes 85pc of exports. According to a Mr Bettendrof added, “Cotton USA is an association
research survey conducted by Cotton Council with the main purpose to promote US Cotton. It is a
International (CCI) in different parts of world revealed trade association which brings together buyers and
that even if US Cotton is comparatively expensive, at sellers and helps to promote their business.
the end when the final product including yarn, fabric Suggesting on how to improve product quality
manufactured he said that good quality raw materials
and apparel is manufactured the US Cotton results as are extremely important. He told that Cotton USA has
low cost due to its high efficiency, less wastage and strong relations with Pakistan as they have
power consumption, low maintenance cost of the consistently been a good customer for US Cotton
machine and exceptional color absorption of the fabric. exports and have a long history of working together
This study was later on also confirmed by various mills with growth potential. US Cotton market share in
in Pakistan. Also, according to CCI, the high dollar Pakistan has been increasing due to which Pakistan
import rate doesn’t affect the export oriented textile mills market is crucial for Cotton USA. Cotton USA thanks
in Pakistan much considering that due to currency its customers for the business by bringing them
devaluation they gain higher returns as well. together in conferences where buyers meet sellers.
Cotton USA has an event that is held each year
Mr William R Bettendrof, CCI Director Supply Chain Marketing and Mr Mazhar Hussain Mirza, Cotton USA representative in Pakistan at Cotton USA booth at Heimtextil Mr William R Bettendrof, CCI Director Supply Chain called the USA Sourcing Summit. In 2019, the
Marketing South and Southeast Asia putting in some Sourcing Summit is expected to be held in Macau to
perspective said that Cotton USA highly invests in bring all the stake holders under one umbrella.

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