Spring 2008, Zbigniew Roskwitalski
Since its establishment in 2000 the IFCP continually acts to enhance the consumers' demand for cotton, independently of price fluctuations and temporary trends in popularity of this raw material.
The words "natural, renewable, sustainable" should remain our slogan. And — whether we like it or not — supporting and maintaining cotton's competitiveness with synthetic fibers have been and will be two of the most important aspects of the national strategies for demand enhancement.
Cotton remains the most important and most popular natural fiber in the world. Preliminary data suggests that world textile fiber consumption increased by 4,8% to a record 67,7 million tons in 2007. World cotton consumption expanded by 3,8% to a record 26,9 million tons in 2007, marking the ninth year of continuous expansion but the second year of a decreasing rate of growth.
Cotton consumption forecasts range from 27,2 million tons to 27,4 millions tons for 2008, and from 27,1 million tons to 27,5 million tons for 2009. The forecasts of the share of cotton in world textile fiber consumption range from 38,9% to 39,0% for 2008, and from 37,2 to 37,7% for 2009.
We always remember, that the basic aim of IFCP activity is a broadly understood cotton promotion, independently of where is it grown and with what methods. All kinds of cotton, i.e. conventional cotton, genetically modified (GM) and organic cotton are to be treated as a fully natural raw material (fiber).
Of course the role of traditional cotton is the most meaningful one for the world economy all the time, but we should remember also about the importance of GM cotton, especially for the growers from developing countries.
And — last but not least — I would also like to find some space in the IFCP activity for monitoring and presenting on our web-page the organic cotton market.
The organic trend is not an ephemeral fashion. We can be sure that in the developed societies, the ecologically conscious will have still greater impact on textiles' and clothes' producers. H&M or Wal-Mart are only a few examples of companies which have announced the continuation of the policy of amplifying their engagement with the eco-textiles' markets. Although the total global production of organic cotton is only 0,22% of the whole volume of the produced cotton and it will perhaps remain a niche activity in the next several years - the development of its growing and application must remain within the scope of IFCP permanent interests.
International Cotton Emblem reactivation on the European market was the cause that this emblem joined again the group of cotton labels present on the world markets. We are very happy because of it, as the promotion through labels is one of the most visible and positive forms of promotion noted by the final consumer. Excellent examples of such effective promotion through labels could be for instance the activity of American cotton organizations, such as Cotton Incorporated or Cotton Council International.