Commitment and Competence in Cotton

The Bremen Cotton Exchange

Commitment, knowledge and experience are good prerequisites to fulfil the objectives, which we at the Bremen Cotton Exchange have set ourselves for more than 130 years.

Together with the other international cotton organisations, we work on behalf of our members to ensure that cotton business is carried out in line with an internationally recognised contract framework, the Bremen Rules. These rules are special regulations for the cotton trade from production to initial consumption in the spinning mills. We are located the Hanseatic city of Bremen/Germany, which has long been one of the most important European cotton trading centres.

Bremen Rules
The "Conditions for the Bremen Cotton Trade" were devised and introduced in 1872, on the initiative of Bremen merchants, to strengthen the interests of the German cotton trade at national and international levels. Since then these rules have been continually reviewed and, when necessary, revised in the interests the market. They are the "constitution" of cotton trading contracts, both in Germany and abroad. Quality arbitration and arbitration tribunals, neutral instruments of settling disputes, play an extremely important role in these regulations.

Quality arbitration-Neutral and objective

Cotton fibre, 630 times enlarged, with a scanning electron microscope in our lab

Cotton fibre, 630 times enlarged, with a
scanning electron microscope in our lab

To determine cotton prices, the Bremen Cotton Exchange is provided with quality standards by the respective producing countries. In case of a dispute, the quality arbitration, carried out by two sworn certified Classers, determines the market value of the cotton provided. Because the material must meet the requirements of industrialised processing, the classing is supported by quality controls in the laboratory of the Fibre Institute Bremen, which is accredited to ISO 17025. These procedures are anonymous and guarantee neutrality and objectivity.

Arbitration Tribunals- Internationally binding
Cotton is produced and traded in more than 70 countries with different social and legal systems. Quality and price of the commodity can vary from season to season. On the way to its final destination cotton passes through many ports of call. Neutral international trading rules balancing the interests of seller and buyer in a fair way are essential for the business. Contract differences can therefore arise. Thanks to the Cotton Exchange's own arbitration tribunals, these disputes can be resolved competently, quickly and internationally binding for both parties. Long and costly ordinary court actions can therefore be avoided.

Specialist Consulting
Various commissions deal with questions on the specialised areas of the cotton business. Amongst other things the boards discuss classing, prices, transport and insurance issues, as well as the instrumental implementation of international trading conditions.

Publications, Promotion, Education

Bremen Cotton Report and Annual Report
Our report is published every two weeks and informs all our members, as well as Government departments, scientific institutions and the press, on the national and international cotton market. As well as the reporting, it also contains information on current events, statistics and market analyses.

'Bremer Abend' at the Bremen Cotton Conference 2004

"Bremer Abend" at the Bremen
Cotton Conference 2004

Our annual report gives account to all our members of all the Bremen Cotton Exchange's activities in the course of the year. Additionally we report on the world cotton situation and the situation in the most important cotton producing and processing countries.

Seminars
We regularly offer and organise seminars, which convey comprehensive information on cotton as a raw material and the associated business. Together with the FIBRE laboratory Bremen, we provide theoretical and practical information for example about classing and testing, arbitration boards and quality arbitration, financing, insurance and futures trading.

Conferences
These provide the opportunity to maintain and improve good contacts. In cooperation with the Fibre Institute Bremen (FIBRE), we organise the bi-annual "Bremen International Cotton Conference". This is the leading cotton testing conference worldwide and offers an international audience from around 50 countries a forum for dialogue.

The Cotton Conference location: the Bremen Townhall

The Cotton Conference location:
the Bremen Townhall

If we take a look back, the Cotton Conference was a forum for research years ago. Therefore it was called Cotton testing Conference in the past. Nowadays, it has been grown significantly, and offers a real wide field of anything related to cotton. The Bremen mission is the "get together" of merchants and mills. These different sectors meet during the conference. You can listen to lectures as well as meet people and establish business contacts. Therefore, a very good background for communication is prepared here. The Bremen conference is well known for this. In addition to this the conference program offers the state of the art of cotton research, of course.

Education
It is a concern of ours to bring the versatility of the natural fibre cotton closer to the people. We therefore offer schools and other interested groups, by appointment, guided tours of the Exchange. We give an insight into our work and the purpose of the Bremen Cotton Exchange. We clarify, in theory and practice, the versatility of the raw material cotton. To support this we publish teaching materials and literature, which show the whole scope of this unique raw material.

CCI Promotion Tour in Bremen

CCI Promotion Tour in Bremen

Among other things, the teaching materials include "touchable cotton" such as small cotton bales, cotton seeds to "breed at home" for first hand experience of the cotton plant, cotton branches, slides and diverse literature.

These activities also mean that we are increasingly becoming the contact point for publishing companies, film studios and other media requiring cotton pictures and other information.

In our opinion knowledge is a good way to promote cotton.


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