U.S cotton growers open ASEAN office in Singapore

U.S cotton growers open ASEAN office in Singapore

SINGAPORE (AFP): Cotton Inc., a company representing U.S cotton growers, have opened a marketing office in Singapore to serve ASEAN customers, a company official said yesterday.

Cotton Inc. public relations director Willaim Daddi said the company's move into the region was prompted by a sharp rise in cotton consumption as a result of poor crops in producing countries in the region.

"Over the past year, the ASEAN region has increased its consumption of U.S cotton from 800,000 bales to 1.3 million bales," Daddi said, adding that ASEAN consumption compared with seven-to-eight million bales of U.S cotton consumed worldwide.

Total consumption in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- will rise by seven percent to 4.75 million bales in 1994-1995, according to a Cotton Inc. forecast. Each bale of cotton weighs approximately 480 pounds (218 kilograms).

The three-man office will promote U.S cotton exports and provide a range of technical and information services to cotton mills that cover fibre processing, yarn development, supply and demand forecast and fashion forecast.

The Singapore office is the second in Asia after Osaka, which serves the Far East markets.

"US cotton growers have gotten important in the region currently because cotton growers in the region such as India and China are having problems with their crops," Daddi said.

He said that with supply problems in the region, U.S cotton prices have become competitive.

U.S cotton growers account for 30 percent of global cotton production. Their biggest competitors are China, the central Asian countries, India and Pakistan.

The latest Cotton Inc. market outlook report said world cotton consumption, stagnant since 1989-1990 because of global economic weakness and a sharp drop in consumption in the former Soviet Union, was beginning to improve.

"There are now reports of increased textile demand worldwide and with increased global economic activity, a two percent rise in 1994-1995 is achievable," the report said.

The rise would put consumption at 86.5 million bales, which is 800,000 bales above production, the report said.

With stock-to-use ratio expected to fall to just over 29 percent in 1994-1995 from 32 percent in 1993-94, average world prices of close to 90 cents a pound would not be unusual, the report said.

Cotton is now trading at around 80 cents a pound in North American markets.