[pageLogInLogOut]

#Raw Materials

Focus on the International Cotton Industry

(c) 2024 Nick Robinson - Cotton Australia
The International Cotton Conference starts in Bremen in just a few weeks. With approximately 400 people attending, for the 37th time the Hanseatic city of Bremen will become a focal point for today’s global cotton industry and its supply chain, from cotton cultivation through to the end product.

Delegates will be evenly split across the areas of cotton farming, processing, retail and the textile trade, industry service providers and, as always, research. The conference is being organised by the Bremen Cotton Exchange and Fibre Institute Bremen.

This year, the venue is not the historic Town Hall, but the city’s modern parliament building, known as the Haus der Bürgerschaft, right next to the Bremen Cotton Exchange. 

Reflecting on the state of the supply chain as part of eleven sessions with informative lectures and first-rate discussion groups, the conference will cover a range of topics offering an insight into the current situation in the industry, while focusing on the challenges and presenting forward-looking solution models.

Cotton is cultivated in around 80 countries worldwide, covering everything from small-scale farming to industrial structures. A large part of these are developing countries in which agriculture is still the main source of income for many people. Anyone who is or would like to be involved in the global cotton industry, simply must have knowledge of the economic and structural relationships of the trade in individual countries.

What is meant by progressive cotton production?

A more focused look at the considerable progress being made in the development of cotton farming in growth regions will be provided by four informative lectures, including a session on Cotton Production in Growing Regions.

USA: David Albers, Bayer USA, will inform attendees about significant developments in the use of various genetically modified types of cotton in the US in the period from 2008 to 2022. The focus will be on analysing the progress in relation to fibre length. This is a key factor for the manufacture of high-quality yarns in the spinning mills.

China: Jingyan Wei from the Cotton Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Anyang, will present the results of tests on various types of cotton in the form of 266 samples taken from the country’s main cotton growing regions. These were analysed using various test methods with regard to quality standards such as spinnability, uniformity of length, and strength. The findings confirmed that the quality of the samples met with the expectations of China’s spinning sector.




Uzbekistan: Rinat Gulyaev from the Cotton Science and Innovation Centre in Tashkent will speak about the extensive transformation of the Uzbek cotton sector as the basis of an ambitious textile export strategy. This includes the use of a monitoring system to check the growth process of seed cotton and the introduction of drip irrigation systems, as well as advanced developments in the field of organic agriculture and an increase in the use of machine harvesting. Also noteworthy are the investments in new instruments for testing cotton quality, and mechanisms for raw material traceability.

Greece: Chris Cavalaris from the University of Thessaly in Volos and Maria Stenull from the BASF Sustainability Team will report on findings from a pilot project on regenerative cultivation practices for sustainable and traceable cotton production in Greece. The University of Thessaly worked with selected Greek cotton farmers from three growing regions and the agricultural division of BASF to implement regenerative methods for producing certified, non-genetically modified cotton. This focused on comparing conventional farming with regenerative methods in relation to their life cycle analysis. During the conference, findings will be presented on developments regarding CO2 footprint, yields and other parameters between 2022 and 2023.

Online access to the cotton conference

Delegates who will not be travelling to Bremen and have therefore opted to participate online may follow the conference on the tried and tested online platform. Here, all participants will have access to every conference session, break-out session, and poster presentation. Those attending the conference in person will also be able to watch the sessions online and use the variety of networking tools available.

The Bremen Cotton Exchange team will provide detailed information about other programme topics at the International Cotton Conference in further press releases in the run-up to the conference. All information is regularly updated and can be found on the conference website at www.cotton-conference-bremen.de.

Registration is now open

Participants can register easily at any time online at https://cotton-conference-bremen.de/registration/



More News from Bremer Baumwollbörse

#Natural Fibers

Bremen Cotton Exchange: Fritz A. Grobien re-elected as President

The members of the Bremen Cotton Exchange have re-elected Fritz A. Grobien as President during the association’s 152nd General Assembly on June 18, 2026. The election confirms the organization’s commitment to maintaining its role as a leading international platform for the cotton and fiber industry amid a period of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

#Raw Materials

Fiber traceability - A vehicle to ensure sustainability or injustice?

The Bremen Cotton Exchange is making a new paper available for download. In this paper, analyst Veronica Bates Kassatly and statistician Terry Townsend examine the justifications behind this approach and assess the consequences for textile and apparel sustainability claims and global legislation.

#Raw Materials

A Powerful Opening: Global thought leaders launch the International Cotton Conference Bremen

The International Cotton Conference Bremen will open on 25 March 2026 in the Parliament building of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen with a keynote session of exceptional calibre. Distinguished international experts will set the stage for the conference by offering incisive perspectives on the most pressing challenges and the defining trends shaping the future of the global cotton trade. Their insights will span a broad spectrum — from geopolitically driven disruptions affecting global supply chains to the opportunities emerging from innovation-led agriculture capable of supporting a growing world population. Together, these opening keynotes will frame the dialogue of the conference, highlighting both the complexity of today’s market environment and the pathways toward a resilient and forward-looking cotton sector.

#Natural Fibers

Beyond Cotton: Natural Fibres in the Spotlight at the Bremen Cotton Conference - Branded by DNFI

Climate targets, fragile supply chains, and rising regulatory requirements are fundamentally changing the perspective of the textile industry - the focus is increasingly shifting toward the base material. Not only cotton, but natural fibres are gaining significant importance: they stand out not only because of their outstanding functional properties, but also because they make a valuable contribution to the bioeconomy and responsible product development.

More News on Raw Materials

#Raw Materials

AMSilk and Ajinomoto Foods Europe expand partnership to enable industrial-scale production of silk proteins

AMSilk GmbH (“AMSilk”), a global leader leader in biotech produced silk materials, today announced a significant expansion of its partnership with Ajinomoto Foods Europe (AFE), marking a key step in scaling the industrial production of its silk proteins. Building on the collaboration first established in 2023, the two companies have now entered into a long-term manufacturing and supply agreement, enabling the transition from industrial validation to dedicated, large-scale production.

#Natural Fibers

Global cotton trade poised for recovery as India and China drive import demand

The July 2026 issue of Cotton This Month highlights a changing global cotton market, with consumption and trade expected to strengthen despite a modest decline in production during the 2026/27 season. The next issue of Cotton This Month will be released on August 1, 2026.

#Natural Fibers

Cotton made in Africa partners receive top marks in independent verifications

Cotton made in Africa® (CmiA) and CmiA Organic are two internationally recognised standards that aim to promote sustainable development in the African cotton sector south of the Sahara. To ensure the standards’ credibility among brands, retailers, and consumers, independent verifiers evaluate compliance on the ground. The verification results for 2025, now published in the Aggregated Verification & Implementation Report, were very strong: The verifiers awarded consistently very good remarks regarding management, people, prosperity, and the environment.

#Natural Fibers

Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brings supply chain leaders together around cotton innovation

Cotton Incorporated’s Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brought together more than 300 industry leaders from 140 companies across 10 countries, including more than 45 top global brands and sourcing organizations, underscoring strong global interest in cotton-rich product development, sourcing and supply chain collaboration.

Latest News

#Research & Development

ALADIN paves the way for circular and demand-driven textile production in Europe

Textile production can be organized sustainably by utilizing short supply chains and preventing overproduction. This can already be achieved today by intelligently connecting and efficiently utilizing existing infrastructure. At the same time, production becomes circular when innovative technologies and materials are used that enable high-quality recycling. The ALADIN research project, launched in May 2026 and co-funded with five million euros under the EU Horizon Europe program, is creating the conditions for this.

#Nonwovens

Katharina Obergruber appointed to the Management Board of Sandler AG

The Supervisory Board of Sandler AG has appointed Katharina Obergruber to the company’s Management Board. Effective September 1, 2026, the Board will consist of Philipp Ebbinghaus (CEO), Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck (currently CCO, future COO), and Katharina Obergruber (CCO). Katharina Obergruber, currently Chief Sales Officer Hygiene and member of the Management Team of Sandler AG, will assume responsibility for all sales activities as Chief Commercial Officer. She will assume this role from Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, who will focus primarily on production and supply chain topics.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

DePoly Inaugurates its Showcase Plant in Monthey Switzerland

What if used plastic bottles, PET packaging material and polyester textiles could become raw materials just as high performing as virgin resources? That is the ambition of DePoly, a circular materials company based in Sion, Switzerland which inaugurated its Showcase Plant in Monthey on July 6th & 7th. The first depolymerization facility of its kind and scale in Switzerland, this industrial Showcase Plant represents a major milestone in the company's growth and its journey toward commercialization.

TOP