The International Cotton Conference took place from June 27 – 29, 2007 in Urumqi, China. Urumqi is the capital of the Republic Xingjang, the largest cotton producing region of China. The event was organised by the Chinese Cotton Association (CCA), the Research Centre for Agriculture (RCRE) and the China National Cotton Exchange (CNCE).

Further cooperating partners were the Chinese Cotton Textiles Association (CCTA), the National Cotton Council of America (NCC) and the Cotton Outlook. The conference counted more than 800 participants. Several delegations also came from Non-Asian countries.

The conference’s topic was called “The Chinese cotton sector in the WTO and its effects on the world market”. Main points of the presentations, discussions, etc., were the Chinese crop during the season 2006/07 as well as consumption and stocks.

The visitors of the conference could choose between three subjects: The present development on the world market and short-term estimates; actual trends in fibre production and processing, and its influence on the world cotton market; as well as the challenge and the opportunities of the Chinese cotton sector.

Mr. Zhou Shentao, President of the China Cotton Association (CCA), held the opening speech. He referred to the developments in the cotton and textiles industry since China has joined the WTO, and emphasized the role of the China Cotton Association within this progress.

A “black list” of firms shallbe published for CCA members and companies trading with CCA members. Mr. Zhou also mentioned that the CCA became a member of the Committee for International Cooperation between Cotton Associations (CICCA) during this year.
 
The speech of Mr. Shi Jianwei, Executive Vice-President of the CCA, related to the Chinese cotton market since China’s joining to the WTO in 2001. He mainly referred to the Chinese statistics on domestic cotton production and its inconsistency. He mentioned the different forecasts published by Chinese sources themselves concerning the Chinese crop, as well as the problem of estimating the correct amount of cotton consumption in spinnery and the necessarily imported quantities.

Mr. Ray Butler, Executive Director of Cotlook Ltd., alluded to the discrepancies and explained the adjustments made by Cotlook in its own predictions. Mr. Joe Nicosia, CEO of the Cotton Trader Allenberg, USA, confirmed the subsidence slope of the statistics.

Carol Skelly from the US Department of Agriculture reviewed the development of US cotton production and consumption in recent years. Her concluding remarks referred to the increasing dependency of the US on exports as the current forecasts indicate that 80 percent of total mill use will be exported in 2007/08.

The significant accumulation of U.S. stocks in 2006/07, which resulted partly from supply and demand factors and partly from policy changes in both China and the US, has drawn increasing attention to US-industry structure and policies affecting U.S. export competitiveness.