Business meetings conducted at the 2019 COTTON USA Sourcing Fair Western Hemisphere led to an estimated $1.3 million worth of business with U.S. cotton yarn and fabric mills. Latin America represents the largest market for U.S. cotton yarns and fabrics.
Some 24 brands/retailers and corporate image wear companies, 52 garment manufacturers and 12 U.S. fabric and yarn mills conducted more than 875 meetings during the two-day Sourcing Fair in Cancun, Mexico. The Fair encouraged apparel companies to choose U.S. cotton as a quick response solution and closer-to-home sourcing alternative.
Eighteen of the 24 brands/retailers and corporate image wear companies were attending a COTTON USA Sourcing Fair for the first time. The information presented during the seminar and business meetings conducted during the Fair, educated these buyers on the advantages of U.S. cotton and as a result, these buyers estimate purchasing $800,000 worth of U.S. cotton products from suppliers who attended the Fair within six months. All the buyers also indicated they expected to purchase additional U.S. cotton within two years of the Fair, meaning the value of future products purchased will be even higher.
More than 50 apparel manufacturers from the Western Hemisphere attended the Fair. After the Fair, they estimated purchasing $335,000 worth of products from the U.S. fabric and yarn manufacturers within the next year. Additionally, 12 U.S. cotton yarn and fabric mills attended the Fair. They estimated selling $175,000 worth of products to brands/retailers, corporate image wear companies and apparel manufacturers who attended the fair within the next year.
Six markets in Latin America consistently rank in the top 20 markets for U.S. cotton fiber: Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and Ecuador. Costa Rica and Honduras rank just outside the top 20. This region has exhibited a tradition of loyalty to U.S. cotton that has persisted despite fluctuations in total fiber imports from year-to-year, with market share levels that are essentially unparalleled in the rest of the world.