Raw Materials

2024-08-08

ICAC releases 2024 edition of the Specialty Cotton Report

The ICAC has released the new edition of the Specialty Cotton Report, a free publication that was created in 2023 to highlight the many new "identity cotton programs" that have been emerging around the world, in addition to covering long-staple (LS) and extra-long staple (ELS) cotton. For the ICAC's purposes, "specialty cotton" refers to any cotton that is remarkable in some way — LS, ELS, or falls under a specific identity program.

The opening pages of the publication are dedicated to global specialty cotton figures, followed by LS and ELS cotton, including a comprehensive global overview as well as a breakdown at the country level.

The identity programs highlighted in the 2024 edition of the Specialty Cotton Report include:

Better Cotton Initiative and equivalents
Brazil's ABR program
Cotton made in Africa
Australia's myBMP
CottonConnect's REEL
US Cotton Trust Protocol.

Beginning in 2023, the Specialty Cotton Report was published to expand what was then called the Extra-fine Cotton Update, according to the author, ICAC Commodity Trade Analyst Ms Parkhi Vats.

“Driven by rising production under identity programs and increasing efforts by governments to produce these specialized ELS and LS cottons, the lack of standardization in defining these types of cotton across national boundaries, and the presence of multiple identity programs necessitated the creation of a focused Specialty Cotton Report,” Ms Vats says. The next edition will be released in July 2025.

To read the 2024 ICAC Specialty Cotton Report, pleased click here:

https://www.icac.org/Content/PublicationsPdf%20Files/53972988_bd41_4290_9b5e_9c8d48510808/SCR%20JULY%202024.pdf.pdf